Blasts were heard in southern Beirut early on Friday in what local media described as another Israeli strike on the capital’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. The usually densely populated area has largely emptied since renewed hostilities erupted on 2 March, and it was unclear whether there were any casualties.
Israel has been bombing Lebanon, mainly in areas where Hezbollah has long held sway, and sent in ground troops to establish a “defensive buffer” zone in south Lebanon. Hezbollah said its fighters continued attacks on Israeli troops in the south early on Friday. On Thursday, official Lebanese media reported deadly Israeli raids in the country’s south, and Hezbollah claimed more than 90 attacks on Israeli targets inside Lebanon and across the border.
Israeli strikes since 2 March have killed at least 1,116 people, including 121 children, according to Lebanese authorities, while more than 1 million people have been displaced. Israel’s military said two soldiers were killed in south Lebanon on Thursday, and emergency services said a rocket from Lebanon killed a man in the Nahariya area of northern Israel.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he would extend his pause on threatening Iranian energy infrastructure for 10 days until 6 April, claiming the request came from Tehran. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said talks were going “very well” and repeated attacks on the “fake news media” for reporting otherwise. Iran has dismissed the claims as “fake news” designed to manipulate oil markets.
Separately, severe explosions were reported at a US military base in Saudi Arabia, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, which said drone attacks targeted the Sultan Amir base in eastern Saudi Arabia. The Israel Defence Forces’ chief of staff warned that the military will “collapse in on itself” due to manpower shortages while fighting on multiple fronts, according to Israeli media reports.
