Israeli warplanes hit Hezbollah command centres and weapons storage sites across Beirut’s southern suburbs early Saturday, the military said, after ordering residents of seven neighbourhoods to evacuate. It was the latest in a campaign that has steadily expanded Israel’s war aims from Iran proper into a full-scale assault on Hezbollah inside Lebanon.

The strikes follow three weeks of escalating violence that began on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for the US-Israeli assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader in Tehran. Since then, Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced over one million — roughly a fifth of the country’s population, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Beyond the Southern Suburbs

What distinguishes the current phase is its breadth. Israel is no longer confining operations to Hezbollah’s traditional Dahiyeh stronghold. Strikes have hit central Beirut, including the Aicha Bakkar neighbourhood, and reached south to Tyre and the Beqaa Valley. The IDF has destroyed bridges over the Litani River, severing southern Lebanon’s links to the rest of the country, and has targeted Hezbollah’s civilian infrastructure — its al-Qard al-Hasan financial network, Al-Manar television headquarters, and Al-Nour radio stations.

Golani Brigade units have redeployed from southern to northern Israel, with the IDF signalling that further reinforcements remain under review.

More Marines, Less Clarity

The escalation sits uneasily beside Washington’s rhetoric. President Trump said this week he was considering “winding down” Middle East operations, even as the Pentagon ordered the USS Boxer and approximately 2,500 Marines toward the region. They join the USS Tripoli and its 2,200-strong Marine Expeditionary Unit, already transiting the Malacca Strait. The combined force will bolster two carrier strike groups already on station.

Hezbollah’s secretary-general Naim Qassem has laid down conditions for a ceasefire — Israeli withdrawal, return of displaced persons, release of detainees — that Israel shows no sign of entertaining. The gap between those positions, and between Washington’s words and its warships, suggests Beirut’s ordeal is far from over.

Sources