New Israeli strikes on Beirut after destruction of bridge

The Israeli army struck Beirut’s southern suburbs again at dawn Saturday, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, after destroying a bridge over the Litani River in eastern Lebanon.

Three U.N. peacekeepers were also wounded Friday in an explosion inside a U.N. facility near Odaisseh in the south, with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) saying the soldiers, two of them seriously wounded, are Indonesian nationals.

A few days earlier, three other Indonesian peacekeepers were killed in the south, where Israel and Hezbollah have been clashing since the start of the Middle East war.

Lebanon was drawn into the conflict on March 2, when Hezbollah, backed by Tehran, fired rockets at Israel following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Israel has since carried out widespread strikes in Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah, and has launched a ground offensive in the south. The fighting has killed 1,368 people, including 125 children, according to official figures, and displaced more than 1 million.

Early Saturday, the Israeli army said on social media it had “begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut,” while an AFP journalist reported at least two strikes in the southern suburbs, with loud explosions and plumes of smoke.

Bridges targeted

In the conflict, the Israeli army has also targeted bridges over the Litani River to cut off parts of southern Lebanon from the rest of the country, according to military analysts.

The latest such strike took place Friday, when Israeli warplanes targeted the bridge linking Sohmor and Mashghara, destroying it, according to the National News Agency.

The Israeli army had earlier warned it would target two bridges “to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment” by Hezbollah. The second bridge was also hit, Lebanese media reported.

Israel has destroyed five bridges over the Litani, about 30 kilometers north of the border, in an area where it says it aims to establish a “security zone.”

In Sohmor, two people were killed and 15 wounded in an Israeli strike that hit as worshippers were leaving a mosque after Friday prayers, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The cause of the explosion that wounded the three Indonesian peacekeepers remains unclear. The Israeli army accused Hezbollah of firing a rocket.

As for the three Indonesian peacekeepers killed earlier, one was killed by Israeli tank fire on Sunday, and two others died the following day in an explosion that may have been caused by a mine, according to a U.N. security source. Israel denied responsibility for Monday’s incident, saying none of its troops were present in the area.

‘Not our war’

Strikes had already hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday, a Hezbollah stronghold, with the Israeli army saying it was targeting “terrorist infrastructure.”

Nearby, Lebanese Christians attended Good Friday services. At Saint Maron Church in Chiyah, a neighborhood in the southern suburbs, Hala Farah, 62, said she had never missed a religious holiday.

“Since I was 15, there has been war in Lebanon. We are always here,” she told AFP before entering a crowded church.

Patricia Haddad, 32, said she was “used to it, unfortunately.” “We are against war. This is not our war. It is a war against Hezbollah, not against Christians or the country,” she said.

As the United Nations and Lebanese authorities warn against a new occupation of southern Lebanon, several strikes also hit the Sour area Friday, according to the National News Agency.

Israeli troops also “destroyed” the last remaining homes in several border villages, which had already been largely razed during the 2024 war, the agency said.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, announced a series of attacks against Israeli targets in Lebanon and across the border.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut warned that Iran and its affiliated groups “could be intending to target universities” in Lebanon, days after threats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards against American institutions in the Middle East.