Israel pounds south Beirut, says it captured Hezbollah members

HAZMIEH, Lebanon – A series of strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on March 23 and early March 24, the first attack on the Hezbollah stronghold in days, as Israel’s military said it had captured two members of the Iran-backed group in southern Lebanon.

An earlier Israeli strike had hit the upscale, predominantly Christian area of Hazmieh near Beirut, with Israel saying it targeted a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm.

AFPTV’s live broadcast showed a cloud of smoke over the capital’s southern suburbs, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported at least five strikes on the area, with low Israeli warplanes heard across Beirut and its surroundings.

The Israeli military also announced it was “striking Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut” after having called on residents to leave the southern suburbs beforehand.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Israeli-US attack.

Israel has since launched strikes across Lebanon, killing at least 1,039 people, and sent ground troops into the country’s south.

In a statement on March 23, the Israeli army said that “during an activity to locate weapons in southern Lebanon, (Israeli) troops identified several armed Hezbollah Radwan Force terrorists who were planning to fire an anti-tank missile”, referring to the group’s commando force.

“After being identified, the terrorists surrendered. They were apprehended by the troops and transferred to Israeli territory for further questioning,” it added.

The Israeli military told AFP two Hezbollah members were captured.

Hezbollah, for its part, announced more than 50 attacks targeting Israeli troops and bases in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, particularly in the border coastal town of Naqura.

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced March 23 that its headquarters in Naqura had been hit by a projectile, probably launched by a “non-state actor”.

Elsewhere in the south, the NNA reported several Israeli strikes.

Early on March 24, the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for two coastal towns near the southern city of Tyre.

Strike near Beirut

The Israeli strike on Hazmieh killed at least one person, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

The upmarket area, overlooking Beirut and adjacent to the presidential palace, houses diplomatic missions, government offices and luxurious residential buildings.

The Israeli military said it had “struck an IRGC Quds Force terrorist in Beirut”, referring to the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Hazmieh mayor Jean Asmar told journalists at the scene that the strike targeted a room inside an apartment rented by a displaced family.

He said the attack forced the municipality to take new measures over hosting people displaced by the war, “so that this incident is not repeated”.

Israel had previously struck the area on March 5, though it was not clear who the target was. It said another strike in central Beirut days later killed five people, including three Quds Force commanders.

Iran accused Israel of killing four of its diplomats in that attack.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on March 22 told the Al Hadath network that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were “unfortunately... managing the military operation in Lebanon”.

‘Only just begun’

The two Hezbollah members captured in the south were the latest additions to a list of Lebanese who have been held in Israel since the last war between it and the group.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein al-Haj Hassan said in January that Israel was holding “20 Lebanese prisoners”, alleging 10 had been abducted “inside Lebanese territory after the ceasefire” that sought to end the previous conflict in 2024.

In February, Israeli forces seized a member of the Hamas-allied Jamaa Islamiya in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson Ella Waweya said on March 23 “the battle against Hezbollah... has only just begun”.

In a video statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country will “continue to strike both in Iran and in Lebanon”.

Israel earlier struck a bridge linking areas in southern Lebanon to the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country, a day after a major bridge in the Tyre region was targeted.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on March 22 he and Mr Netanyahu had instructed the military to “destroy all the bridges over the Litani River that are used for terrorist activity”. AFP