Since October, when the Gaza war intensified, the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hizbullah has escalated repeatedly. On Tuesday, it reached one of its sharpest flashes, with well over a hundred rocket salvos aimed at Israel, while overnight into Monday at least three people were killed in Israeli bombardments in eastern Lebanon.
“In response to the launches toward Israel by Hizbullah this morning, fighter jets struck two Hizbullah command centers in the Baalbek area, deep inside Lebanon,” a statement from the Israeli military said on Tuesday, also confirming strikes in Bint Jbeil in the south.
But according to the Baalbek-Hermel provincial governor, Bachir Khodr, the Israeli bombs hit “an abandoned house in Al Nabi Shet and a carpet warehouse in Saraain,” he said on X, killing two people presumed to be civilians and injuring six others.
The two dead join a third who died last night in Israeli strikes on several sites, including around Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley. That night raid, Hizbullah said, triggered this morning’s volley of more than a hundred rockets.
“Hizbullah is ready and prepared for any expansion of the fighting,” a group member told the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, adding that its offensive response “will be stronger” than that of the Israeli forces.
Israel, far from easing tensions, confirmed new air and artillery strikes on Tuesday afternoon against “infrastructures and military facilities” of Hizbullah in southern Lebanon, following rocket fire toward northern Israel’s Galilee region, according to a spokesman.
“We are committed to the diplomatic process, but Hizbullah’s aggression is pushing us toward a critical decision point,” warned Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant last week, as concern grows that the region is edging toward a broader war similar to the 2006 conflict between the two sides.
Hizbullah has said it will not halt its missile launches until Israel ends its Gaza war. Since October 8, the conflict on the border has claimed at least 340 lives, most of them on the Lebanese side and among Hizbullah fighters, with 233 militants reported killed, some in Syria.
At least seven civilians in Israel and about 50 civilians in Lebanon, including ten children and three journalists, have also died in the fighting.
Greater tension also in the West Bank
While violence in northern Israel intensifies, Gaza’s devastating offensive, now in its 158th day, continues to draw international attention. The occupied Palestinian territories are also experiencing mounting pressure and military presence during the Ramadan period, which began yesterday.
Authorities announced that thousands of police would be deployed this Friday in the Old City of Jerusalem, in the eastern part of the city under Israeli control, according to a police spokesperson. The intention is to ensure security as many worshippers come to pray, though authorities warned that calm is needed to prevent clashes.
Although initially announced without entry restrictions, Israel is only allowing access to Jerusalem from the West Bank for worshipers at the Noble Sanctuary, with limitations by age: men over 55, women over 50, and children up to age 10. A valid permit is required, subject to security considerations as managed by the cross-border civil affairs body in the occupied territories.
Late on the night of March 10, hundreds of Palestinian youths were prevented from reaching the complex housing the Al Aqsa Mosque, with video circulating showing clashes with police in several instances.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced the action, stating that militarized force does not bring security or stability, after Israel announced the deployment of 23 battalions to entrench its presence in the West Bank.
Hizbullah continues to press its stance that its missiles will be fired until Israeli forces end the Gaza war. Since the flare-up began in October, casualties have mounted on both sides and across the region, underscoring a fragile ceasefire landscape and the risk of a wider regional conflict that could pull in neighboring states, partners, and factions. The international community remains watchful for steps toward de-escalation while avoiding a broader confrontation that could redraw the security map of the Levant.