A Lebanese civil defence worker inspects destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Houch el-Rafqa, in the Bekaa valley on Monday.GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images
When she heard the first explosions over the southern suburbs of Beirut just before 3 a.m. on Monday, Nour el-Hoda Hanash didn’t know where to go. She only knew that she had to flee. Again.
Twelve hours later, Ms. el-Hoda Hanash was squatting in the shade of an ancient white bus on Beirut’s central Martyrs’ Square, a plaza named for those who died in Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, just one of many conflicts the retired cleaning lady has lived through in her 60 years. Ms. el-Hoda Hanash was waiting Monday afternoon for the bus to leave, heading north toward her daughter’s home, though she wasn’t sure it would be any safer there.
Explosions could be heard around Beirut throughout Monday and into Tuesday as Israel repeatedly bombed Hezbollah targets in the southern suburbs of the capital. The Israeli assault began about 90 minutes after the Iranian-backed militia launched a volley of predawn rockets at the port of Haifa in what the group said was revenge for Saturday’s assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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On Tuesday, the Israeli military announced that some of its units had crossed into Lebanon with the intention of pushing Hezbollah further away from the border. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorized the IDF to advance and hold additional dominant terrain in Lebanon and defend the border communities from there,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Citing witnesses, Reuters reported that the Lebanese army withdrew from at least seven positions on its side of the border ahead of the announced Israeli advance.
Meanwhile, Israel continued to target what it said was Hezbollah command centres and ammunition depots in the southern suburbs of Beirut and across southern Lebanon. Israeli media reported that Hezbollah launched more than a dozen rockets and drones across the border on Tuesday, with at least one impact reported in the northern Galilee region.
The exchanges of fire left dozens dead in Lebanon on Monday, and marked the opening of a volatile new front in the rapidly spreading war that began Saturday with the joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
“I hate the word ‘Hezbollah,’” Ms. el-Hoda Hanash said as she waited for her bus to depart. “I hate these wars – we’re still rebuilding from the last one,” she said, referring to a two-month conflict in late 2024 that left much of the southern suburbs of Beirut in ruins – an area collectively known as the Dahiya.
In a last-minute effort to keep his country from being dragged into another devastating conflict, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam declared Monday that Hezbollah’s decision to launch the attack on Israel had been illegal and a violation of his country’s sovereignty. He called on Lebanon’s security forces to disarm the Iranian-backed militia.
It wasn’t immediately clear what effect Mr. Salam’s declaration – which he combined with an appeal for Israel’s allies to restrain it from attacking his country – would have. There were no immediate signs that the Lebanese army, which has been deployed at major intersections around Beirut since Saturday, was taking any action against Hezbollah.
Nour el-Hoda Hanash sits in Martyr’s Square in downtown Beirut having fled her home following Israeli airstrikes.Oliver Marsden/The Globe and Mail
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Israel continued to target Iran – where the 88-member Guardian Council is still in the process of choosing Ayatollah Khamenei’s successor – while Tehran lashed back by firing barrages of missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. military bases and allies around the region.
The list of countries targeted in the Iranian response now includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, as well as a British airbase in Cyprus. Of all those fronts, Lebanon is perhaps the most volatile.
Columns of smoke could be seen rising from the Dahiya throughout Monday as residents of the densely populated area fled toward the centre of the capital, or tried to leave the city entirely, creating long traffic jams.
Meanwhile, Israel continued to bomb targets in the Dahiya and across the south of the country. Both areas are populated predominantly by Shia Muslims, many of whom regarded Ayatollah Khamenei as their spiritual leader.
Smoke rises on Tuesday after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.Khalil Ashawi/Reuters
The Israeli military said it had targeted “more than 70 weapons depots, launch sites and missile launchers belonging to Hezbollah in multiple regions of Lebanon.”
Earlier in the day, Israel issued evacuation notices to residents of 53 villages in southern Lebanon, warning them to move at least one kilometre away from their homes. “Anyone who is near Hezbollah operatives, facilities and weapons is putting their life at risk.”
Hezbollah, though badly weakened by the 2024 war with Israel, has long been the most powerful of Iran’s network of proxy armies, and the strongest armed force inside Lebanon.
Mr. Salam’s condemnation of the group reflected a growing exasperation that Hezbollah has repeatedly dragged Lebanon into conflicts with its southern neighbour.
“Hezbollah must surrender its illegal weapons and remain a political party,” Mr. Salam said after an emergency meeting of his cabinet. In televised remarks, he called on the country’s security forces to use “all means possible” to “deny Hezbollah the ability to fire any rockets or drones from Lebanese territory.”
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While Hezbollah was originally born as a resistance movement and won nationwide support for its role in ending Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation of southern Lebanon, the group has always been primarily an Iranian proxy force.
Hezbollah’s popularity was badly damaged by the 2024 war that left more than 4,000 Lebanese civilians dead. The group’s decision to launch the attack on Haifa – once more without consulting the Lebanese government – appeared to have further alienated the Sunni Muslim, Maronite Christian and Druze populations of a country that has been divided throughout its history along sectarian lines.
Marc Daou at his Progress party headquarters in Beirut.Oliver Marsden/The Globe and Mail
Mark Daou, an independent MP, said Hezbollah had repeatedly put Iran’s interests ahead of Lebanon’s, forcing the government to finally confront it.
“They were acting on Iranian orders. The [Iranian] regime is literally stuck in a corner, and all their protégés are now asked to come to the rescue,” Mr. Daou said in an interview, referring to a network of Iranian-backed groups around the Middle East that also includes Yemen’s Houthis, as well as several Iraqi militias.
Mr. Daou said Mr. Salam’s declaration that Hezbollah’s weapons were illegal was “the right move,” even as he predicted trouble ahead. “Hezbollah is a guerilla organization. We don’t know what they will do if they’re cornered – assassinations, disruption – this is a dangerous moment.”
Some political analysts, however, were skeptical that Mr. Salam’s declaration would have much impact on the ground.
Motorists block the highway as they flee villages in southern Lebanon along the coastal road through the city of Sidon.MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images
Imad Salamey, an associate professor of political science and international affairs at the Lebanese American University, said the Lebanese army – a rare non-sectarian institution in Lebanon – wasn’t prepared politically or militarily to disarm Hezbollah.
“Any attempt at forced disarmament could trigger serious domestic tensions,” he said.
Ali Hamie, a political analyst considered close to Hezbollah, said the group would disregard the Lebanese government’s statement, and focus on the fight with Israel. He said Hezbollah was ready and able to fight a prolonged conflict.
“The Israeli enemy cannot eliminate the resistance in Lebanon. The party remains capable of carrying out powerful military surprises,” Mr. Hamie said. “The regional war is still in its early stages,” he added.
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Those most directly affected – the residents of the Dahiya and southern Lebanon, two of the poorest parts of the country – were bitterly resigned to another conflict.
A few metres away from where Ms. el-Hoda Hanash was waiting for her bus to depart, Fadi Awad was slumped with exhaustion in the front seat of his sand-coloured Mercedes. His son sat in the front seat, while his wife and their other two children were crammed into the back.
Mr. Awad, a 39-year-old taxi driver, had made four trips to and from the Dahiya on Monday, evacuating 20 members of his extended family to Martyrs’ Square, where they were setting up temporary camp.
Fadi Awad, right, sits in his taxi with his family in front of the Al Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut.Oliver Marsden/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Awad said each of his half-hour sprints to and from the southern suburbs had been more eerie and frightening than the previous trip.
“It’s completely dead there right now – there’s no life at all. I’m driving around in my taxi, and I don’t know when they will target me,” he said as an Israeli reconnaissance drone buzzed over the city centre.
As he sat in the driver’s seat after the fourth and final trip, watching as his extended family ate lunch on the pavement of Martyrs’ Square, Mr. Awad said he had no idea where to take them next. “We don’t have anywhere to go except this car.”
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