Israel has been launching strikes into Lebanon, particularly their Western capital Beirut since the 2nd of March, 2026.

Following the death of the Iranian Ayatollah, Ali Khamenei, Hezbollah launched projectiles in Israel.  The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims to have intercepted a projectile originating from Lebanon.  So, Right on Hezbollah’s heels, Israel began a campaign of strikes in Beirut which have only escalated in the days since the original attacks.  This conflict is resuming since a relative standstill since October 2024 following U.S. brokered peace deals.  During this period however, Israel continued launching attacks into Lebanon, at some points almost daily.  Nearly all of the attacks have been focused in on areas where Hezbollah operates and wider Shia Muslim population lie.  Areas such as the eastern Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon – even more so the southern suburbs of Beirut.

However, most recently at time of writing, Israel expanded to a more central area in Beirut, resulting in damages to the luxury hotel – the Ramada Plaza –  in the neighborhood, Raouche.  Israeli military has made claims that a secret meeting of Iranian operatives was occurring in the hotel.  this has been refuted by Iran’s government.  Irregardless, this is the first attack launched at a metropolitan area, bustling with the Lebanese citizenry.  Alice Cuddy writes in this BBC article, “The strike came without warning, and locals and displaced people staying in the area ran to their windows and balconies to see what had happened. Those on the streets nearby – still busy with Ramadan crowds – ducked for cover” (Cuddy, Mar.10, 26).  Five are confirmed to be dead from the strike, with 10 more injured.  And while those injured are unidentified bystanders, the killed were said those killed by the attack worked under Iran’s elite Quds Force – an overseas branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Outside of this singular incident, the death toll in Lebanon has continued to inflate, now nearing 500.  And the death toll seems to be rising rapidly, some estimates putting it at increases of 100 losses per day.  And a toll from the Lebanese Health Ministry claims that approximately 83 children and 42 women died.  Israeli military has been ordering people to leave their homes in these areas of Lebanon such as Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.  These escalating hostilities, most pertinently near the Lebanese capital, has led to much displacement.  Civilians that are in fear of getting caught in the cross-hairs of one of these strikes have been re-locating.

Reuters writes, “Escalating hostilities have forced nearly 700,000 ​people to flee their homes in Lebanon over the past week, a U.N. agency said on Monday, as the war between Israel and the ‌Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah entered a second week” (Kerdi, Lubell, Mar. 9, 26).  Among the 700,000 displaced is an estimate of 200,000 children.