Large-scale Israeli strikes hit Beirut, Lebanese areas despite U.S.-Iran truce

BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 8 (UPI) -- Israel carried out intensive, large-scale airstrikes on Wednesday, targeting several neighborhoods in the heart of Beirut, as well as southern and eastern Lebanon, killing more than 89 people and wounding 800 and causing significant material damage.

The airstrikes came hours after the United States and Iran reached a Pakistani-mediated two-week ceasefire calling for a cessation of hostilities across multiple fronts, including Lebanon - a provision that Israel rejected, pledging to continue strikes against Hezbollah.

"The two-week ceasefire does not include Lebanon," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement hours after the truce was announced.

The Israeli strikes were carried out without prior warning during rush hour in Beirut, striking residential buildings and apartments in several densely populated neighborhoods, causing panic and chaos in the streets.

One of the strikes targeted a building close to the official residence of House Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah's main ally.

Thick black smoke billowed over the targeted areas as ambulances, civil defense units, and fire engines rushed in to evacuate casualties and extinguish fires.

Several locations in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as areas in the mountains southeast of the capital, the port city of Sidon, and villages in southern and eastern Lebanon, were hit.

According to the Lebanese Red Cross, a large number of people were killed or wounded as rescue operations continue. Security forces urged residents to clear the roads to facilitate rescue operations and to remain in safe locations.

Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine said at least 89 people were killed and 800 injured in today's Israeli attacks across Lebanon.

Lebanese Red Cross Secretary-General George Kettaneh told local TV stations that according to initial reports, at least 300 people were killed or wounded in Beirut and its surrounding.

They reportedly include 32 killed and 243 wounded in Beirut alone.

While hospitals urged urgent blood donations, rescue teams evacuated victims from shops and apartments engulfed in flames, including women children, as well as drivers and passengers trapped in their vehicles.

Pictures of missing family members have been circulating on social media as loved ones try to locate them.

Today's Israeli strikes were the most violent and intensive since Hezbollah joined the U.S.-led war on Iran, by firing missiles and drones on Israel on March 2.

The Israeli Army spokesperson confirmed the attacks, saying it was its "largest coordinated wave of strikes across Lebanon" since the start of Operation Roaring Lion, targeting 100 Hezbollah headquarters and military infrastructure "within 10 minutes."

The spokesperson was quoted as saying by Israeli English-language websites that today's "operation was carefully planned over long weeks," targeting Hezbollah intelligence headquarters, central command posts, elite units and launching missiles.

The Israeli Army said the extensive strikes in Lebanon were carried out as part of a new operation called "Eternal Darkness" - a focused and wide-ranging operation targeting all of Hezbollah's command and control centers in southern Lebanon, Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a post on X that Israel expanded its aggression that hit densely-populated residential neighborhoods and inflicted casualties among "unarmed civilians" in |Beirut and various other Lebanese areas despite that "we have welcomed the (cease-fire) agreement between the U.S. and Iran."

Salam called on all Lebanon's friends "to help us stop these aggressions by all available means."

President Joseph Aoun described the attacks as "barbaric" and "a new massacre" that adds to Israel's "dark record."

Aoun emphasized the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities to stop "these repeated attacks and to put an end to this aggressive approach that threatens security and stability in the region."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today's operation was "the largest concentrated blow" Hezbollah has suffered since the unprecedented, highly sophisticated pager and walkie-talkie attack against Hezbollah members that killed a dozen people and wounded more than 3,000 in September 2024.

Katz warned Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem that "his turn will also come," saying that Israel after October 7, 2023, "will not tolerate any threat or harm to its citizens - not from Iran and not from Lebanon."

Iran threatened to withdraw from the temporary cease-fire with the U.S. if Israel "continues to violate the truce by persisting in its attacks on Lebanon," according "a knowledgeable source" quoted by the Iranian Tasnim news agency.

This week in Washington

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday. Yesterday, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, with the U.S. suspending bombing in Iran for two weeks if the country reopens the Straight of Hormuz. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo