By BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 3 (AfrikTimes) – Lebanon was pulled deeper into the widening Middle East war on Tuesday as the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah launched missiles at Israel for a second consecutive day, prompting Israel to send troops into southern Lebanon and carry out waves of airstrikes.
The theatre of numerous conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon was drawn into the spillover from the war between the United States, Israel and Iran on Monday, when the group opened fire with drones and missiles. With dozens of people killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes, Hezbollah’s move to enter the conflict has sharpened long-standing divisions in Lebanon over its status as an armed group – the only Lebanese faction to keep its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war.
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir.
THOUSANDS FLEE FROM BORDER AREA
The Lebanese government on Monday took the unprecedented step of outlawing Hezbollah’s military activities. The pro-Hezbollah newspaper al-Akhbar condemned the move as a “capitulation to dictates, which could even lead to the outbreak of civil war”.
Israeli strikes sent thick plumes of smoke billowing over Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs and across hilltops in southern Lebanon. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement he had authorised the military to advance and take control of additional positions in Lebanon, where Israeli troops have held several hilltops since a war with Hezbollah in 2024.
Many thousands of Lebanese have fled homes in areas that bore the brunt of that conflict. The Israeli military has ordered residents of dozens of villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate.
“This displacement is harder than the last one,” said Nuzha Salame, sheltering in the city of Sidon after fleeing her village. “Now we’re in hardship and deprivation, and we’re still out in the streets.”
The United Nations said that, by Monday, at least 30,000 people, including 9,000 children, had sought protection in shelters, while many more are expected to join them.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would intensify its strikes in Lebanon in response to Hezbollah’s attacks, accusing the group of dragging the Lebanese people “into a war that is not theirs.” The U.S. embassy in Beirut announced it would shut until further notice due to rising regional tensions.
ISRAELI INCURSIONS
The Israeli military said it had deployed additional forces to southern Lebanon overnight, saying this was to take up defensive positions to guard against any potential Hezbollah attack. UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, said Israeli soldiers crossed the border in four areas before returning south of the frontier, and that dozens of rockets and missiles had been fired into Israel over the past two days.
Witnesses said the Lebanese army had pulled out of at least seven forward-operating positions along the border.
Israel has been carrying out near daily strikes targeting Hezbollah since the ceasefire in 2024. Hezbollah’s attack on Monday was its first since that conflict.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah announced at least four separate attacks using drones and missiles targeting military facilities in northern Israel. The group also claimed it had shot down an Israeli drone in southern Lebanon.
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi.
ROCKET HITS HOUSE IN ISRAEL
A missile fired from Lebanon struck a house in northern Israel, Israeli media reported. Israel’s ambulance service said a man was treated for injuries caused by flying glass.
“These assets were operating under civilian cover,” it said.
After its attack on Monday, Hezbollah said it acted to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader and also in defence of Lebanon. On Tuesday, the group noted continuous Israeli attacks since 2024, and said that its actions were “a reaction to aggression, for national reasons first and foremost”.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has not issued any statements or public remarks during the latest escalation.
Debris at the site of an Israeli strike on a building that houses Al-Manar TV offices in Beirut’s southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 3, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Stringer.
