Several columns of smoke were visible across Beirut on Thursday afternoon, and the Israeli military called for new evacuations in the city, in particular the Zuqaq al-Blat area, following the wave of attacks.
According to the Reuters news agency, a building in central Beirut was hit by two rockets. The building is said to be located just one kilometer from the government quarters.
Lebanon's state news agency NNA also reports that the University of Hadath in southern Beirut was hit by Israeli drones during the day and that a number of employees were killed.
Nearly 700 people are reported to have been killed on Lebanese soil since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalated.
Expanded security area
On Thursday, Israel also expanded its evacuation order for residents of southern Lebanon to cover a larger area than before. The new warning, described as "urgent," now also applies to an area north of the Litani River - where Israel plans to attack the Shiite militia Hezbollah.
"Urgent warning to residents of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah's terrorist activities are forcing the IDF (Israeli military) to act forcefully against it," writes the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on X.
Hezbollah is part of a network of militia groups in the Middle East that are trained, armed and financed by Iran.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has now announced that the military has been ordered to expand operations in neighboring Lebanon. This is "to restore calm and security" in communities in northern Israel that are becoming targets for rockets.
Appears to continue
Israel claims that Hezbollah carried out its most extensive attack yet on Wednesday night, with around 200 rockets. According to Hezbollah and Iran, it was a coordinated attack using missiles, drones and rockets. Images from residential areas show impact craters and destroyed homes.
In parallel, Israel bombed areas in central Beirut, after previously having mainly attacked the southern areas of the city where Hezbollah has a stronghold. In the southern parts, many multi-story buildings have been reduced to rubble.
Reports suggest that Israel's war in Lebanon will continue for some time. According to diplomatic sources cited by Haaretz, Israel intends to continue fighting Hezbollah even after the war against Iran ends.
The outbreak of war in Iran on February 28 has been followed by a new escalation in Lebanon as well.
A long-standing conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah flared up in violence even in parallel with the war in Gaza, but since the fall of 2024 the parties had agreed to a fragile and compromised ceasefire.
According to the ceasefire, which was marked by allegations of violations, Israel and Hezbollah would withdraw from an area in southern Lebanon and gradually hand it over to international forces and Lebanon's regular, but relatively weak, army.
In the new escalation, Israel has advanced further into Lebanon with ground forces to establish its own "buffer zone" in the neighboring country. Beirut has been bombed almost daily by airstrikes, and Hezbollah has responded with rocket attacks.
In recent weeks, hundreds of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands driven from their homes in Lebanon.
