The Israeli strike on Bashoura, in the heart of Beirut, on March 12, 2026. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine / L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Israel intensified its war on Lebanon on Thursday, by striking buildings in Bashoura, Zoqaq al-Blat and Nabaa, all in central Beirut, and ordering residents in southern Lebanon to evacuate all areas south of the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers from the border.
An Israeli drone strike on the Faculty of Sciences at the Lebanese University (LU) in Hadath, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, also killed the faculty’s director, Hussein Bazzi, and Professor Mortada Srour in the school’s outdoor courtyard.
After Hezbollah fired “the largest” barrage of rockets since March 2, according to the Israeli army, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned President Joseph Aoun that if the Lebanese government could not prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel, "we will take the territory and do it ourselves," according to a statement released by his office, as cited by Reuters.
For his part, Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said, "This operation will not be short. We will bring additional troops and capabilities to the north."
“After the strike in the southern suburbs, many Hezbollah militants began fleeing to other hideouts in Beirut, in densely populated civilian areas,” he added.
Strikes reach central Beirut
Thursday afternoon, the Israeli army called for the evacuation of an ever larger area of southern Lebanon, this time with its northern boundary at the Zahrani River, roughly 40 kilometers from the border.
The area has been subjected to intense air and drone strikes since March 2, often without prior warning.
An Israeli strike killed at least nine people in the afternoon in Irkay (Saida district), including four girls from the same family and one boy. The municipality denounced a “terrible massacre.”
An Israeli strike on Ain Ibl (Bint Jbeil) killed three people, and another on Barish (Sour) also killed three.
In the Bekaa, an Israeli strike killed a man in Ain Bourdai after warning strikes on Qsarnaba and Douris.
The victims of the Israeli drone strike on LU were the faculty director, Bazzi, who held a degree in nanoscience, and physics professor Srour. The southern suburbs were heavily targeted again in the evening.
687 killed since March 2
Israeli strikes on Lebanon since March 2 have killed 687 people, including 98 children and 52 women, and injured 1,774 others, the Health Ministry announced.
For its part, Hezbollah claimed nearly 20 military operations, including three targeting “gatherings of Israeli soldiers” in southern Lebanon. The party said it fired artillery shells in the morning at an Israeli military position in Markaba (Marjayoun), and rockets in the afternoon east of Mount Warda in the same locality, as well as at Odaisseh (Marjayoun).
Hezbollah also said it targeted the air defense system around Caesarea, about 70 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border, as well as the headquarters of Israel’s naval operations unit south of Haifa.
The Israeli army said it killed Tuesday “Abuzar Mohammadi, a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” who was active in Hezbollah’s “ballistic missile unit.” It did not specify where he was killed, but posted a video on X appearing to show a drone strike on a motorcycle.
Three drone strikes were recorded in Lebanon that day: in Ouzai, south of Beirut, and in Siddiqine and Qana (both in Sour).
The Israeli army also claimed it killed Saturday in Harouf (Nabatieh), “the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force for the southern Lebanon region,” Abou Ali Rayan, along with more than 100 members of the unit.
Israeli forces also claimed they killed, in an unspecified strike overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, “the commander of the al-Imam Hussein Brigade,” Ali Muslim Tabaja, as well as other senior officials from the brigade, including its deputy commander, Jihad al-Safira, and drone chief Sajed al-Handasa.
According to spokesman Avichay Adraee, the brigade “is considered a military force used by the Iranian Quds Force to strengthen the Iranian axis … and is composed of thousands of militants of various Middle Eastern nationalities.”
