Israel hits Beirut, warns Lebanon of ‘heavy price’

Israel warned Lebanon there would be a “very heavy price” if it did not rein in Iran-backed Hezbollah; as Hezbollah batters the group’s strongholds across the country with airstrikes and launches a deadly airstrike in the east.

Lebanon was dragged into a broader Middle East war on Monday when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel and Israel responded with a new military campaign that displaced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes.

Reuters video showed more buildings lying in smoking piles of rubble and twisted metal in Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs on Saturday morning, following heavy Israeli shelling that followed an evacuation order.

Addressing Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that if the Lebanese government does not implement the 2024 agreement to disarm Hezbollah, he and the entire country will suffer.

“If given the choice between protecting our civilians and soldiers or protecting the Lebanese state, we will choose to protect our civilians and soldiers, and the Lebanese government and Lebanon will pay a heavy price for this,” Katz said.

⭕️As part of IDF’s activities in Lebanon, IDF special forces carried out an operation throughout the night to find findings regarding missing sailor Ron Arad. No trace of him was found at the search site and no IDF injuries were reported. IDF will continue its activities…— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 7, 2026

He added that Israel has no territorial claims against Lebanon, but will not allow a situation that would target Israel from Lebanese territory.

In a rare air operation, Israeli helicopters dropped troops overnight near the town of Nabi Chit in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.

The Israeli army said soldiers were carrying out an operation to search for the remains of Israeli air force navigator Ron Arad, who has been missing in Lebanon since 1986.

However, it was stated that no findings could be found regarding him.

In its statement at night, Hezbollah said that four helicopters opened fire on Israeli troops left near Nabi Çit and the soldiers withdrew.

The Israeli army said no soldiers were injured.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that 41 people died in the last 24 hours in Israel’s attacks on the Nabi Chit region.

The Lebanese army announced that its personnel were among the dead.

Shawki al Masri, who lives in a town neighboring Nabi Chit, described the bomb attack that took place overnight in the area as a “night of hell”.

“We heard helicopters over our house all night; they were so low we thought they were going to land on us,” he told Reuters.

“People in the town woke up and started shooting at them, then the warplanes started bombing. It was a very violent night and it only calmed down when the sun came up,” he said.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 200 people across Lebanon, and departure orders have displaced nearly 300,000; Only a third of them currently live in government shelters.

A senior United Nations official told Reuters on Friday that the displacement was “unprecedented”.

Hezbollah has also warned Israeli citizens living in communities near the border to flee their homes, but Katz said Saturday they should not do so.

Most northern Israeli communities were evacuated during cross-border bombardment in 2023–24.

Also on Saturday, Hezbollah issued a more specific warning to residents of the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shimona, telling them to leave the area immediately and head south.