Israel launched large-scale airstrikes across Lebanon, killing and injuring hundreds of people. Authorities said the war against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah continues despite a ceasefire in Iran. The BBC reported this on Thursday. Israel described it as the largest series of airstrikes in the conflict, targeting over 100 Hezbollah command centers and military sites within 10 minutes. The southern suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley were targeted. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that at least 182 people were killed, with fears of an increase in the number, and 890 were injured.
At the site of the largest airstrike on Beirut, hours later, emergency workers were still searching through destroyed buildings. The attacks came after the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Pakistan's claim, which had mediated an agreement between the US and Iran and said the Lebanese conflict was included in the ceasefire. In Washington, US President Donald Trump's press secretary, Carolyn Levy, also said that Lebanon was not part of the agreement.
Hezbollah, which has not claimed responsibility for any attack since the announcement of the ceasefire agreement, said the group has the right to retaliate and warned people to wait for a formal ceasefire announcement before trying to return home to their families. The Lebanese presidency said it would continue efforts to include Lebanon in regional peace. The latest escalation in the decades-long conflict between Hezbollah and Israel came when the group fired rockets at Israel in response to almost daily Israeli attacks on Lebanon, in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the war, despite a ceasefire agreement in November 2024.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health says that more than 1,700 people have been killed in the war so far, including at least 130 children, although the ministry did not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Israel says it has killed about 1,100 Hezbollah fighters. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced, a fifth of the population, most of whom are Shia Muslims.
