A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut's Bashoura neighbourhood early on March 18, 2026. (Credit: Fadel Itani/AFP)
It was another hellish night for Beirut under Israeli fire. This latest tragic episode of the war in Lebanon started Tuesday evening when Hezbollah's deputy leader, Naim Qassem, sent a message of support to his fighters, who then launched dozens of rockets toward Israel as part of a new operation called "Khaybar 1." The Israeli response was quick.
Four times, Beirut was struck once again in the heart of the city during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The Israeli army conducted deadly bombings on apartments in the neighborhoods of Zoqaq al-Blat and Basta in the middle of the night. These strikes killed 6 people and wounded 24, according to the latest update from the Health Ministry. While Israeli media mentioned a targeted assassination in Beirut, no target has been confirmed so far.
The Israeli army then bombed a multi-story building at Bashoura at 5:30 a.m., a few 100 meters from the Grand Serail and Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut, after issuing an evacuation order at 4 a.m. The building, which completely collapsed, had already been targeted by Israeli strikes on March 12.
Then, around 8 a.m., another targeted strike, this time without prior warning, hit the Zoqaq al-Blat neighborhood. Our on-site journalists report that several apartments in the struck building caught fire.
The strikes in Beirut have killed at least 12 people and injured 41, according to the latest toll released by the Ministry of Health. Preliminary figures had reported 6 dead and 24 wounded.
Sour threatened and struck
Throughout the night, Israel also launched increasingly powerful strikes on southern Lebanon. Sour, the South’s second-largest city, was particularly targeted.
After threatening attacks on Tuesday evening and sowing panic among residents, the Arabic language spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, issued an evacuation order on X in the middle of the night for several neighborhoods in the city as well as the surrounding Palestinian camps.
Major population movements were then observed out of the city and the Palestinian camps, especially the Rashidieh camp, according to our correspondent.
Overnight strikes then targeted the al-Hosh neighborhood behind the Lebanese-Italian hospital, the seafront at the city's northern entrance, the al-Bass area near the al-Qa'em mosque (targeting an aluminum warehouse), and the locality of Burj al-Shemali.
The Israeli army also bombed, after issuing threats, a building in Akbieh in the Saida district, opposite a gas station. According to our correspondent, this bombing caused significant damage to a mall, clinics, a medication warehouse and businesses.
The Nabatieh district was also particularly targeted by the Israeli army overnight. Localities of Deir al-Zahrani, Toul, the area near a Civil Defense center in Nabatieh, the Maslakh neighborhood of the city, and the outskirts of Roumine were hit. A strike in Mayfadoun killed a city council member, and another in Jebchit killed four Syrians, according to our southern Lebanon correspondent.
Sources from our correspondent also reported an advance by Israeli vehicles in Maroun al-Ras, in the Bint Jbeil district, under the cover of artillery shelling and heavy gunfire targeting the city of Bint Jbeil and Ainata.
For its part, Hezbollah said it targeted several Israeli soldier gatherings in the South during the night, in the al-Khanouq area near Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), and twice near Odaisseh (Marjayoun), two border villages.
On Tuesday evening, it claimed to have targeted the Israeli localities of Kiryat Shmona, Metula, Malikiyah, Daychoun, Avivim, Kfar Blum, Ramot Naftali, Zar'it, Shtula, Avin Menahim and Beit Halal. The group also reportedly targeted the Meron base, dedicated to surveillance and the management of air operations, another base in the city of Safed, and the regional northern command headquarters in the same locality.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 886 people since March 2, including 111 children, according to an official toll updated as of March 16. The Israeli army has said it has killed about 400 Hezbollah fighters.It was another hellish night for Beirut under Israeli fire. This latest tragic episode of the war in Lebanon started Tuesday evening when Hezbollah's deputy leader, Naim Qassem, sent a message of support to his fighters, who then launched dozens of rockets toward Israel as part of a new operation called "Khaybar 1." The Israeli response was quick.
Four times, Beirut was struck once again in the heart of the city during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The Israeli army conducted deadly bombings on apartments in the neighborhoods of Zoqaq al-Blat and Basta in the middle of the night. These strikes killed 6 people and wounded 24, according to the latest update from the Health Ministry. While Israeli media mentioned a targeted assassination in Beirut, no target has been confirmed so far.
The Israeli army then bombed a multi-story building at Bashoura at 5:30 a.m., a few 100 meters from the Grand Serail and Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut, after issuing an evacuation order at 4 a.m. The building, which completely collapsed, had already been targeted by Israeli strikes on March 12.
Then, around 8 a.m., another targeted strike, this time without prior warning, hit the Zoqaq al-Blat neighborhood. Our on-site journalists report that several apartments in the struck building caught fire.
The strikes in Beirut have killed at least 12 people and injured 41, according to the latest toll released by the Ministry of Health. Preliminary figures had reported 6 dead and 24 wounded.
Sour threatened and struck
Throughout the night, Israel also launched increasingly powerful strikes on southern Lebanon. On this night, Sour, the South’s second-largest city, was particularly targeted.
After threatening attacks on Tuesday evening and sowing panic among residents, the Arabic language spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, issued an evacuation order on X in the middle of the night for several neighborhoods in the city as well as the surrounding Palestinian camps.
Major population movements were then observed out of the city and the Palestinian camps, especially the Rashidieh camp, according to our correspondent.
Overnight strikes then targeted the al-Hosh neighborhood behind the Lebanese-Italian hospital, the seafront at the city's northern entrance, the al-Bass area near the al-Qa'em mosque (targeting an aluminum warehouse), and the locality of Burj al-Shemali.
The Israeli army also bombed, after issuing threats, a building in Akbieh in the Saida district, opposite a gas station. According to our correspondent, this bombing caused significant damage to a mall, clinics, a medication warehouse and businesses.
The Nabatieh district was also particularly targeted by the Israeli army overnight. Localities of Deir al-Zahrani, Toul, the area near a Civil Defense center in Nabatieh, the Maslakh neighborhood of the city, and the outskirts of Roumine were hit. A strike in Mayfadoun killed a city council member, and another in Jebchit killed four Syrians, according to our southern Lebanon correspondent.
Sources from our correspondent also reported an advance by Israeli vehicles in Maroun al-Ras, in the Bint Jbeil district, under the cover of artillery shelling and heavy gunfire targeting the city of Bint Jbeil and Ainata.
For its part, Hezbollah said it targeted several Israeli soldier gatherings in the South during the night, in the al-Khanouq area near Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), and twice near Odaisseh (Marjayoun), two border villages.
On Tuesday evening, it claimed to have targeted the Israeli localities of Kiryat Shmona, Metula, Malikiyah, Daychoun, Avivim, Kfar Blum, Ramot Naftali, Zar'it, Shtula, Avin Menahim and Beit Halal. The group also reportedly targeted the Meron base, dedicated to surveillance and the management of air operations, another base in the city of Safed, and the regional northern command headquarters in the same locality.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 886 people since March 2, including 111 children, according to an official toll updated as of March 16. The Israeli army has said it has killed about 400 Hezbollah fighters.
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