Israel and Hezbollah exchange strikes sparking Beirut evacuations

The army "is currently attacking targets (...) belonging to Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

According to eyewitnesses, on Saturday after the Israeli attack, smoke was also rising over the southern suburbs of Beirut, Reuters reported. The sound of explosions was also heard in the city.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that patients and hospital personnel in the southern districts of Beirut will be evacuated after the overnight attacks to facilities "unaffected by the Israeli assault". The Lebanese Ministry of Health called on these facilities to accept only urgent cases until the end of next week.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah stated that on Saturday it attacked the Kabri kibbutz in Western Galilee in northern Israel with Fadi-1 rockets in response to the Israeli strikes on "cities, villages, and civilians" in Lebanon.

According to the Times of Israel portal, five rockets struck deeper into northern Israel, but none were headed for Kabri. The Israeli army reported intercepting five rockets fired from Lebanon in the northern part of the country.

On Friday, the Israeli military reported an attack on Hezbollah's headquarters, which was located in Beirut. According to media sources, the entire block of buildings was destroyed, and it was the largest air raid on the Lebanese capital during the escalation of the Hezbollah-Israel conflict that has been ongoing for a year.

In the autumn of 2023, after the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, Iran-backed Hezbollah began regular shelling of northern Israel, which met with strong counterattacks. Since Monday, the Israeli air force has been conducting massive airstrikes on Lebanon. Israel emphasises that the airstrikes are aimed at Hezbollah's infrastructure and fighters, to restore security to the northern part of the country, from which more than 60,000 people have had to flee before the attacks.