The southern suburbs of Beirut under Israeli fire, March 9, 2026. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — The eighth day of the Hezbollah-Israel conflict saw a fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Over a dozen strikes targeted the southern suburb of Beirut — adding to two overnight raids in the Ghobeiry neighborhoods — particularly hitting branches of al-Qard al-Hassan, the financial institution linked to Hezbollah.
Israeli strikes also killed the priest of the Christian village of Qlayaa in southern Lebanon, while Israel confirmed the death of "the commander of Hezbollah's Nasser unit" in an overnight strike.
In the late morning, shortly after Israel announced threats of strikes against Hezbollah’s financial arm, the Israeli army bombed six buildings housing branches of this financial company, notably in Sfeir, Haret Hreik and Ain al-Sekkeh in Burj al-Barajneh, as well as on Hadi Nasrallah Highway, in Mrayjeh, and another branch located on the airport highway.
According to the Health Ministry, the strikes killed at least one and twelve injured.
On Monday night, the Israeli army also issued an evacuation order to residents of the Mazraat al-Aqabiyeh sector (Saida district), with a map showing the targeted building. Two missiles then struck and destroyed the al-Qard al-Hassan offices in the Aqabiyeh district, according to our correspondent in the south.
Meanwhile, in a new report released Monday, the Public Health Ministry announced that "the Israeli aggression, from dawn Monday, March 2 to the afternoon of Monday, March 9, left 486 dead and 1,313 wounded."
Priest of the Qlayaa parish killed by Israeli artillery fire
Southern Lebanon was not spared from Israeli fire either. In an unprecedented strike, the Christian village of Qlayaa (Marjayoun district) was hit by two shells fired by Israeli artillery, killing the village priest, Pierre al-Rai, and injuring five people.
Speaking to our correspondent, Qlayaa municipal council president Hanna Daher said he did not understand the reasons behind the shelling. The head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, meanwhile, denounced in a statement "the infiltration of Hezbollah elements into the locality."
In a message from his Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army said it had "neutralized a Hezbollah-affiliated cell entering a site located in a Christian village in southern Lebanon," without specifying the locality's name.
A fighter jet bombed the village following information from the 146th division, according to the scant details published by the spokesman.
Series of strikes in southern Lebanon
Elsewhere, an Israeli army drone struck a pickup truck in the Maslakh neighborhood of Bint Jbeil (district of the same name), killing two.
Another drone strike killed a member of the Shebaa municipal police (Hasbaya district) in front of his home. Artillery shelling also targeted the villages of Khiam and Qlayaa, our correspondent reports.
Around noon, Israeli warplanes conducted a series of raids near the village of Jmayjmeh, close to a gas distribution company, as well as the localities of Yater and Beit Lif in Bint Jbeil district.
Other strikes targeted Kounine, Taybeh, Deir Serian, Wadi Slouki and Kabrikha in Marjayoun district. A drone strike also targeted a car between Haboush and Arabsalim, in Nabatieh district.
In the afternoon, Israeli warplanes targeted houses in Jouaya and hit the villages of Haris and Hanine (Sour district). Homes were also targeted in the villages of Shehabieh and Srifa in the same district, as well as the outskirts of Qaouthariyet al-Rez (Saida district) and Ansar (Nabatieh district). An Israeli drone also carried out an airstrike on a car in Burj al-Rahal (Sour). No casualties were reported.
While the Israeli army claims to have destroyed dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers "installed south of the Litani River and used to fire rockets and missiles toward Israeli territory" in recent days, Hezbollah, for its part, claimed more than a dozen attacks against Israel throughout the day.
With a salvo of rockets, the pro-Iranian group said it had targeted, at 12:15 p.m., the Zaev air defense base in Haifa, as well as the town of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel, which was targeted at least twice after being threatened by the movement on Saturday.
Hezbollah announced that at 5 p.m., it struck a group of Israeli soldiers at the al-Baghdadi site, opposite the border village of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun district), with a salvo of rockets.
In a series of statements, the militia party also said it fought Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, as the Israeli army pressed its advances at Adaisseh and Aitaroun.
According to Hezbollah, artillery shells were fired twice — at 11:45 p.m. Saturday and then at 12:45 a.m. Sunday — at Israeli soldiers advancing from the so-called Khallet al-Mahafir area toward Adaisseh.
At 2:15 a.m., fighting resumed with rockets and machine gun fire, "forcing the Israeli force to withdraw toward Khallet al-Mahafir," according to the party. It also said it twice fired artillery at an advance of Israeli soldiers toward Aitaroun.
Hezbollah said it struck "Sunday at 4:40 a.m., a bulldozer and two Israeli army vehicles on the heights of Qabah, on the southeastern outskirts of Markaba (Marjayoun district)," using guided missiles and stated the strikes hit their targets.
Israel kills Hezbollah's Nasser unit chief
On Monday, Israel announced it had killed the head of one of Hezbollah's three units in southern Lebanon during its ongoing offensive in Lebanon since March 2.
During a visit to the border with Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz was informed of the death of "the commander of Hezbollah's Nasser unit," Abu Hussein Ragheb, in an overnight strike, the ministry said in a statement.
This unit, deployed in the eastern part of southern Lebanon, was the first to open a front against Israel after the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said his country "will not only not back down from Hezbollah, but will seize the opportunity to strike and inflict losses on it."
"We have the opportunity to establish maximum security," Israeli media reported.
Furthermore, the minister's office reports that during a briefing at the northern command, Katz was told that "650,000 Lebanese had evacuated the southern suburb of Beirut and 500,000 others had left southern Lebanon."
On Sunday, Lebanese authorities had stated that more than half a million people have been displaced by Israeli strikes on Lebanon. In total, 517,000 displaced persons have been counted, including more than 117,000 housed in reception centers, said Social Development Minister Haneen al-Sayyed at a press conference.
Additionally, two missiles fired from Lebanon on Monday struck the city of Ramla in Israel, slightly injuring two people, Haaretz reported, citing Israeli emergency services.
According to them, a 32-year-old man was hit by shrapnel from the explosion, while a 38-year-old woman was wounded in the leg.
Drones crash in towns in northern Lebanon
In northern Lebanon, a drone crashed Monday in a field on the outskirts of the village of al-Bireh in Akkar, our north Lebanon correspondent reports, noting that no one was injured.
A Lebanese Army patrol, accompanied by the relevant security services, then went to the site to inspect the crash, determine whether it was an Israeli drone, and take the necessary measures to remove it from the area.
Another drone crashed and exploded in an open area on the outskirts of the village of Bani Sakhr in the border region of Wadi Khaled, also without causing any injuries, our correspondent noted.
New Israeli helicopter operation on the Lebanese-Syrian border
The Bekaa Valley experienced a turbulent night. For the second time in 48 hours, the Israeli army attempted to conduct a helicopter operation overnight from Sunday to Monday on the heights of Nabi Sheett. Heavy ground fighting pitted Israeli soldiers against Hezbollah in Anti-Lebanon, which marks the border with Syria in this area. The Shiite party said in a statement it had fought this latest Israeli incursion.
Violent night in southern Lebanon
As on Sunday, marked by a dramatic intensification in bombing, the night was also violent in the south. In Nabatieh district, strikes targeted Haboush and Harouf.
A strike on a poultry farm in Yohmor al-Shkif killed two and wounded eight, according to the Health Ministry. The victims, including three children, were all Syrian nationals.
In Sour, Israeli strikes on Jouaya killed three and injured sixteen, according to the ministry. The toll from the overnight strike on an Islamic Health Committee center, the Hezbollah relief organization, in the village of Tayr Debba rose to nine dead. Two more were killed in Srifa and two in Debaal. Another strike also hit Jouaya around 1 a.m.
Reporting by our regional correspondents, Michel Hallak in the North and Muntasser Abdallah in the South.
