File image.
Hezbollah joined the war alongside Iran early on March 2, launching rockets and drones against targets in Israel, which responded with deadly strikes.
The attack, which set off sirens across northern Israel, was carried out in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the opening strikes of the American-Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic two days earlier. It marked the end of the ceasefire in Lebanon brokered by the U.S. more than a year ago, a ceasefire that Israel largely ignored, keeping troops in southern Lebanon and launching strikes against Hezbollah on a regular basis.
Sirens were activated in the northern city of Haifa and surrounding areas shortly after midnight, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later confirming that the source of the rocket fire that set off the alarms was Lebanon.
The military said that one rocket was intercepted by air defenses, and at least two others were allowed to fall in open areas.
Alerts warning of a drone attack also sounded in the Upper Galilee shortly after, with air defenses shooting down at least two suspected drones, according to Hebrew media.
The IDF later said that at least three more rockets launched from Lebanon struck open areas in northern Israel, without setting off sirens, “according to protocol”. There were no reports of injuries or damage as a result of the rocket and drone attacks.
Hezbollah, in its statement claiming responsibility for attacks said that “a barrage of precision missiles and a swarm of drones,” said it attacked as “revenge for the blood of the Supreme Leader of the Muslims, Ali Khamenei.”
The group claimed that it had targeted a missile defense site in the area of Mishmar Carmel, to the south of the port city of Haifa.
“The Israeli enemy cannot continue its aggression, which has lasted for fifteen months, without receiving a warning response to stop this aggression and withdraw from the occupied Lebanese territories,” Hezbollah warned.
A day earlier, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a statement mourning Khamenei that the group is ready to “fulfill its duty”.
In response to the attacks, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that the military launched an “offensive campaign” against Hezbollah that will likely last several days.
“We have begun an offensive campaign against Hezbollah. We are not just on the defense, now we go on the offense,” he said during an assessment.
Dozens of Israeli strikes later hit the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and the country’s South Governorate, with the IDF announcing that Hezbollah headquarters and infrastructure were hit, along with a vehicle carrying two operatives from the group’s elite Radwan Force in the Kfar Dajjal area.
In Beirut, the military said it had targeted “senior” members of the group in a strike, without immediately providing further details.
The IDF also issued evacuation warnings for Lebanese civilians in dozens of villages in southern Lebanon. The strikes and the warning displaced most of the residents of the governorate.
“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move at least 1,000 meters away from the villages to open areas,” said Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokeswoman.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that 31 people were killed and 149 wounded in Israeli strikes in Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh district and the south of the country. Both of these areas are strongholds of Hezbollah.
Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s bloc in the Lebanese parliament, was among at least ten people killed in Israeli strikes on the Dahiyeh, according to Saudi-owned news channel Al-Arabiya. Neither the IDF, nor Hezbollah has confirmed this yet.
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Qassem was not apparently targeted by any of the strikes as Defense Minister Israel Katz later in the day vowed to assassinate him.
“The Hezbollah terror organization will pay a heavy price for the firing toward Israel, and Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s secretary general, who decided on the firing under pressure from Iran, from now on, he is a marked target for elimination,” Katz said on X.
He added that whoever “follows the path” of Khamenei “will soon find himself together with him in the depths of hell with all those eliminated from the axis of evil.”
Hezbollah’s decision to join the war came as a surprise for many, especially that the group has been facing pressure from the Lebanese government to stay on the side.
The group’s military capabilities were greatly degraded during the past conflict with the IDF, and even during the ceasefire, which saw the Lebanese military implementing a disarmament plan. Despite this, the group remains a credible threat. Its short ranger rockets could paralyze life in northern Israel, and its drone proved in the past that they could hit deep into Israel.
An Israeli security source told the Saudi-owned news channel Al-Hadath that the IDF’s new offensive against Hezbollah “will be broad and comprehensive and may include a [ground] invasion.” This would give the group an even better chance to inflict losses on Israel.
Iraqi armed factions represented by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq joined the war alongside Iran on the very first day, and with Hezbollah now also in, it is likely only a matter of time before the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, in Yemen began launching attacks.
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the alawites, with their betrayal, which occurred in december 2024, destroyed their main ally – iran.
china must demand that russia kill all alawite traitors.
i find it disgusting to think that i once admired people like suhail al hassan and maher al assad. now i only wish death for both of them and a bunch of people like them.
another americunt humiliation as superior persians make ameericunts chew used hebrew condoms
gabi reminded me of the fact that i once admired suhail al hassan. now i despise this treacherous traitor and wish him dead.
gabi reminded me of the fact that i once admired suhail al hassan. now i despise this treacherous traitor and wish him dead he impressed me with his fight against isis. now i wish isis would cut him up, roast him, and eat him. i know i hate him and i want someone to kill him.
thankyou southfront for your coverage