IDF begins strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut
The military announced the stikes in Dahiyeh minutes after sirens were triggered throughout Israel by Iranian missile launches.
The IDF conducted strikes on Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh area of Beirut on Thursday night.
The military announced this minutes after sirens were triggered throughout Israel by Iranian missile launches.
Sirens continued to sound through the late hours of Thursday night and early Friday morning in Israeli towns near the Lebanese border.
More than 80,000 people flee areas in Lebanon amid fighting
The renewed Israel-Hezbollah conflict has caused 83,847 people to flee southern Lebanon and other areas of Lebanon, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said Thursday.
The conflict began to escalate when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on Monday. Since then, the terrorist group has also launched drone attacks, and Israeli soldiers were wounded by anti-tank fire, according to reports on Wednesday.
Aftermath of Israeli strikes following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 2, 2026 (credit: REUTERS/AHMAD AL KERDI)
More than 80,000 displaced people had registered in shelters, and there were now 399 shelters across Lebanon, Sayed told reporters.
The Lebanese authorities said 72 people had been killed in the fighting.
“Tens of thousands of Lebanese people have been displaced following evacuation orders put out by the Israeli military, declaring 8% of the country’s land mass south of the Litani River as an active combat zone,” Saudi Arabia-based newspaper Arab News reported.
IRGC members in Lebanon will be arrested, deported, Lebanese information minister says
Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Lebanon will be arrested, Reuters cited the Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos as saying on Thursday.
Military operations by the IRGC will also be banned, and those arrested may be deported, according to Saudi-owned Al Arabiya, who added that the Lebanese cabinet had reportedly decided that Iranians would no longer have visa-free entry to Lebanon.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also slammed rumors of Lebanon committing a “sin” by “aligning with and implementing Israel’s goals” during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
IDF issues urgent evacuation notice for southern Beirut suburbs
The IDF spokesperson in Arabic issued an immediate evacuation notice for all residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs in a Thursday afternoon post to X/Twitter.
Residents of the Bourj Brajneh, Al-Hadath, Haret Hreik, and Shiah neighborhoods were instructed to head north toward Mount Lebanon and avoid heading south.
“You are prohibited from heading south. Any movement south may put your lives at risk,” the notice concluded.
Seth J. Frantzman, Miriam Sela-Eitam, and Reuters contributed to this report.
