Smoke rises from the southern suburbs of Beirut after Israeli strikes, March 5, 2026. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Israeli warplanes carried out major airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday night and early Friday morning after the Israeli army issued a mass evacuation order earlier in the afternoon covering the entire area from Ghobeiri to Hadath, including Chiyah and Burj al-Barajneh.
Most residents fled during the day, with Israeli military figures cited by Lebanese media estimating that around 300,000 people left the area. The evacuation order followed another order issued earlier that morning for areas south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, including the cities of Tyre and Bint Jbeil, according to Israeli army Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee.
Home to roughly 700,000 residents, the southern suburbs, known as the Dahiyeh and has been repeatedly targeted since the escalation of the war in Lebanon.
The area was also where former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, 2024, followed by his successor Hashem Safieddine on Oct. 4. After the evacuation warning, Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the Dahiyeh would soon “resemble Khan Younis,” referring to the heavily devastated city in the Gaza Strip.
Following hours of tension, a first warning shot was fired around 9:20 p.m. and a second at 10:30 p.m., before Israeli airstrikes began at 10:45 p.m., nearly eight hours after the evacuation order. Israel said it was targeting “Hezbollah infrastructure.” Three strikes hit Ghobeiri, two consecutive strikes targeted Haret Hreik, and another strike hit Burj al-Barajneh just before 1 a.m.
At the same time, Israeli forces struck Brital and Douris in the Bekaa Valley, after calling for the evacuation of Douris, Brital, and Majdaloun around 8 p.m. Around 3 a.m., airstrikes resumed in Beirut’s southern suburbs, bringing the total to 11 strikes, hitting areas including Jamous, Mechrefieh, Haret Hreik near Al-Sahel Hospital, Maamoura, Kafaat, Burj al-Barajneh, its entrance, and the Hadi Nasrallah Highway.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah issued a warning in Hebrew on its Telegram channel to residents of Israeli settlements in the north, calling on them to evacuate areas within 5 kilometers of the border, and warning that Israeli attacks on Lebanese sovereignty, civilians and infrastructure would not go unanswered.
