Israeli airstrike kills seven in Beirut as cross-border attacks escalate
Shafaq News- Beirut
At least seven people were killed and 21 others wounded in an Israeli airstrike early Thursday on the Ramlet al-Baida coastal area in central Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, as Israel and Hezbollah continue exchanging attacks.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the strike hit an area along Beirut’s seafront, where many displaced residents had gathered after receiving Israeli evacuation warnings for neighborhoods in the southern suburbs of the capital and parts of southern Lebanon. The toll could rise as rescue operations continue.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that the strike targeted a vehicle in the Ramlet al-Baida district and coincided with low-altitude flights by Israeli drones over the area.
مشاهد من موقع الغارة التي استهدفت منطقة الرملة البيضاء في بيروت pic.twitter.com/kxieus8Sxm
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) March 12, 2026
The Health Ministry also reported casualties from another Israeli strike in the Mount Lebanon town of Aramoun, where three people were killed, and a child was injured.
The attack marked the third Israeli strike inside central Beirut since the latest phase of the Middle East conflict intensified. Israeli forces struck an apartment in the capital on Wednesday and targeted a room in a seafront hotel on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said early Thursday that it had launched a series of retaliatory attacks under the “Al-Asf al-Ma’koul*” operations. The group said its fighters fired volleys of rockets, advanced shells, and drones at several Israeli military targets and cities.
Among the targets listed by Hezbollah were the Atlit naval base south of Haifa, which hosts the Israeli Navy’s Shayetet 13 special forces unit, as well as Meron air surveillance base in northern Israel, the Ya’ra military barracks, the newly established Merkabah site, and the Glilot base near Tel Aviv, which houses Unit 8200, Israel’s military intelligence signals unit.
The group also said it struck the Beit Lid military base, which hosts training camps for the Nahal and Paratroopers brigades, in addition to the northern Israeli city of Nahariya.
In a separate statement, the Israeli military said it carried out a “large wave of overnight strikes” targeting what it described as Hezbollah military infrastructure across Lebanon. The army alleged the attacks targeted dozens of rocket launchers as well as intelligence facilities and positions belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
مشاهد للدمار في الضاحية الجنوبية pic.twitter.com/L1jkvmUx7T
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) March 12, 2026
Lebanon’s National News Agency also reported Israeli airstrikes Thursday morning on several towns in southern Lebanon, including Taybeh, Tafahata, al-Sultaniyah, and Qana.
The Israeli military also issued an evacuation warning for residents of Qsranaba village in the Baalbek district in eastern Lebanon.
The Lebanese authorities reported that approximately 700 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the escalation began, including 91 children, while more than 1,600 others have been wounded. More than 800,000 people have been displaced from their homes.
Israeli media outlet Yedioth Ahronoth, citing sources, revealed that the Israeli army has added 18 new deployment positions in southern Lebanon. According to the report, Israeli forces had already remained at five positions in the area despite last year’s ceasefire agreement.
Amid tight media restrictions during the conflict, according to Israel’s Health Ministry and military data, 18 people have been killed in Israel since the escalation began, "including 16 civilians and two soldiers," while 2,745 others have been injured, and 11 people remain missing.
Israeli authorities have also evacuated more than 100,000 residents from northern communities and settlements located near strategic sites close to the Lebanese border.
*The name refers to the Qur’anic phrase ‘al-‘asf al-ma’koul’ from Surat Al-Fil, meaning ‘like chewed straw,’ a metaphor for complete destruction.
