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LAST UPDATE | 28 Mar
ISRAEL HAS BOMBED a building in a Beirut suburb and launched extensive strikes against targets across southern Lebanon in response to rocket fire early this morning.
Earlier, a warning was issued on twitter by the Israeli military Arabic spokesman warning people to leave an area of Hadath in the south of the city. There were also reports that the Dahiyeh suburb, known as a Hezbollah stronghold was hit.
The Israelis claimed that the building was being used by Hezbollah militants. It is the first time since November the Lebanese capital has been struck, following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah that month.
The Irish Defence Forces has confirmed that all personnel are safe.
It comes just a day after Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Trade and Foreign Affairs Simon Harris departed after a visit to the country. The Journal also spent a number of days this week in Beirut and south Lebanon reporting on the situation in the country.
During his visit, an Israeli drone monitored his movements; Harris also met with senior Lebanese officials and visited Irish peacekeepers in south Lebanon.
Irish troops have been providing security for body recovery operations in their area of operations.
Lebanese media reported shortly after 11am Irish time that the building had been struck.
Footage circulating on social media showed residents of the area in a panic as they fled shortly before the hit. The video showed school children with backpacks as well as adults fleeing.
An Israeli drone has been spotted above Beirut by photographers attached to the Associated Press.
Israel struck multiple targets, particularly around the town of Khiam, in the south east of the country.
The south of the country is a Hezbollah heartland and the location where rockets are launched into northern Israel and as far south as the cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv.
The area is monitored by 10,000 international troop including 336 Irish soldiers as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
It is understood that all Irish troops are accounted for and safe as the bombing continues across the southern area.
On a visit to Lebanon this week, The Journal, heard that efforts are progressing by Israel to attempt to move civilians back into their northern towns however the fragile truce looks to be in danger of collapsing.
The rockets this morning struck Kyrat Shoma and rockets over recent days have also struck communities in upper Galilee. The Israelis have responded with devastating air strikes which have gone as far north as the city of Tyre.
In a statement on Telegram this morning, Hezbollah said it “confirms the party’s respect for the ceasefire agreement and denies any involvement in the rockets launched from the south of Lebanon”.
The IDF confirmed also on Telegram that they were striking targets.
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said in a statement on twitter that it found the rocket launch site at a location in Qaqa’iyat al-Jisr area of Nabatieh which they said is north of the Litani river and not in South Lebanon. It also revealed that just two rockets had been launched.
The LAF said in a statement: “The Israeli enemy escalated its attacks on Lebanon, claiming that two rockets were fired from Lebanese territory toward the occupied Palestinian territories.
“The attacks targeted various areas in the south, all the way to Beirut, in a blatant and repeated violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and the security of its citizens, a challenge to international law, and a flagrant breach of the ceasefire agreement.”
The Defence Forces can confirm that all Irish personnel deployed to Lebanon are well and accounted for. All necessary force protection measures continue be to observed and DFHQ Operations Section are continuing to monitor the situation closely. pic.twitter.com/MNawhZ2Emg
— Óglaigh na hÉireann (@defenceforces) March 28, 2025
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the United Nations envoy for Lebanon, called for restraint by all sides.
“Today’s exchange of fire across the Blue Line, the second such incident in less than a week, is deeply concerning.
“A return to wider conflict in Lebanon would be devastating for civilians on both sides of the Blue Line and must be avoided at all costs. Restraint from all parties is therefore critically needed,” she said.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged the lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to identify and arrest those behind the rocket fire towards Israel.
It is understood this morning’s Israeli raids occurred across the south with officials in the Naqoura closing schools, close to the UNIFIL headquarters.
There were also reports of raids in Jezzine region, which is north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres north of the Blue Line demarcation between Lebanon and Israel.
The Lebanese Government closed schools in the Nabatiyeh area today which has been hit in recent days. There were also closures in Tyre.
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on 8 October, 2023 in support of its ally Hamas following the Palestinian group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
The cross-border hostilities ultimately escalated into all-out war, with Israel conducting an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon and sending in ground troops.
The November truce brought a partial Israeli withdrawal, although its troops still hold five positions in south Lebanon that are deemed strategic, even after the pullout deadline.
Last weekend saw the most intense escalation since the truce, with Israeli strikes in the south killing eight people.
UNIFIL said at the time it was “alarmed by the possible escalation of violence” following rocket fire.
Hezbollah had also denied any involvement in that rocket attack, calling Israel’s accusations “pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon”.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its forces north of the Litani, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel has also recently resumed intensive military operations in Gaza, shattering weeks of relative calm brought on by a January ceasefire with Hamas.
Palestinian militants returned to launching rockets at Israel days later.
In more than a week of resumed Israeli strikes in Gaza, 855 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
The United Nations said Wednesday the renewed Israeli operations had displaced 142,000 people in just seven days, and warned supplies were dwindling in the face of an Israeli aid blockade.
The 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 50,208 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry there.
With reporting by AFP.
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