Since 2 March 2026, there has been an ongoing war in Lebanon between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah, with Israel invading parts of Lebanon. It is a resumption of major fighting in the Hezbollah–Israel conflict, and part of the wider conflict in the Middle East. The war has precipitated a humanitarian crisis, resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 people from Israeli strikes in Lebanon, and seen the forced displacement of over 1 million.
Hezbollah attacked Israel on 8 October 2023, one day after Hamas' October 7 attacks at the start of the Gaza war, which led to the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. After an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement in November 2024, Israel still conducted airstrikes, saying that Hezbollah breached ceasefire conditions. Hezbollah launched strikes on Israel on 2 March 2026, in response to Israel and the United States launching a war against Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, and assassinating its supreme leader. Israel resumed airstrikes across Lebanon on a larger scale and, on March 16, began ground operations in southern Lebanon. The main bridges on the Litani River were blown up by Israel to cut off the south from the rest of Lebanon; Bint Jbeil became a site of intense ground combat. Israel announced it would demolish Lebanese border villages and occupy Lebanon up to the Litani. Lebanon moved to ban Hezbollah's military activities; it also condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians. Iran called for an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition for a ceasefire in the wider war.
After a ceasefire halted the Iran war, Hezbollah halted its attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire did not apply to Lebanon, contradicting Iran and the Pakistani mediator, and launched the largest airstrikes of the war. On 16 April, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, later extended more than once. On 3 June, Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement, facilitated by the US. On 4 June, Hezbollah rejected the Lebanon-Israel deal and demanded a full ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Speaker of Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri suggested that Hezbollah and Israel both withdraw from south of the Litani.
On 15 June, the Islamabad Memorandum was agreed between the US and Iran, including a ceasefire in Lebanon. Israeli forces remained in occupied areas of Lebanon. On 19 June, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an Israel-Hezbollah truce entering into force at 4 p.m. local time (1 p.m. GMT). On 26 June, US secretary of state Marco Rubio announced a framework deal between Israel and Lebanon for "lasting peace and security". The agreement includes full disarmament of Hezbollah; it was rejected by Hezbollah. On 30 June, Iran announced that it, along with the US and Lebanon, has reached an agreement to establish a committee to oversee the conclusion of the war. On 15 July, the US State Department reported that Israel has agreed to withdraw from pilot zones in southern Lebanon. On 20 July, the US announced that Israel handed over sections of the buffer zone occupied by it in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese government as per its U.S.-mediated deal with Beirut. Lebanon's army began deploying in Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on July 21, after an Israeli withdrawal in line with the agreement.
Background
In the aftermath of the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israel and the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah have been engaged in conflict, as part of a longer stretch of hostilities between the two since the latter's founding in 1982. Hezbollah launched strikes against Israel after the 7 October 2023 attacks, which it said was in solidarity with the Palestinians. After a year of fighting, Israel invaded southern Lebanon in October 2024, pulling out after the US brokered an agreement between Israel and Lebanon at the end of November, but not before killing Hezbollah's militant leader, cleric Hassan Nasrallah. Between November 2024 and March 2026, however, several ceasefire violations occurred between the two, with Israel launching near-daily attacks killing 331 people (of which at least 127 were civilians) by November 2025; later, the total death toll reached 500; Israel said these actions were an attempt to enforce the ceasefire terms and prevent Hezbollah's renewed military buildup. Hezbollah violated the ceasefire terms by rebuilding its militant infrastructure and weapons arsenal.
UNIFIL, a UN peacekeeping mission present in southern Lebanon for decades, was terminated in September 2025 by the UN Security Council (amid pressure from Israel and the US, a permanent member of the council); its mandate ends on 31 December 2026 and it is expected to disappear from Lebanon in 2027 at the latest.
Following the US–Israeli joint strikes on Iran on 28 February 2026, Hezbollah condemned the attacks, stating "we are confident that the American and Israeli enemy will receive a great slap and will reap nothing but failure from its tyrannical, criminal aggression." On 1 March, after Iran confirmed the death of Ali Khamenei in the US–Israeli strikes, Hezbollah's secretary-general Naim Qassem vowed to retaliate and "undertake our duty of confronting the aggression", stating Hezbollah would not leave "the field of honor and resistance." Hezbollah later claimed that the attack was a "defensive act" after over a year of Israeli attacks despite a truce. It added that it restarted fighting to force Israel to stop its aggression and evacuate from seized Lebanese territories, emphasizing that the move was unrelated to the Iran war.
Main events
First week (2–8 March)
On 2 March, Hezbollah launched several projectiles into northern Israel, the first time it had done so since the 2024 ceasefire, targeting a missile defense site south of Haifa. Hezbollah said it restarted fighting to force Israel to stop its aggression and evacuate from seized Lebanese territories, emphasising that the move was unrelated to the Iran war. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had intercepted one projectile originating from Lebanon, letting several others fall into open sites. In response, Israeli jets struck targets in the Lebanese capital of Beirut at 3am local time, issuing evacuation orders to local civilians in 50 villages across Southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley. The Israeli military said it carried out "precise and targeted" strikes against "senior terrorist elements of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Beirut area" and "a central terrorist element of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon." Early reports suggested the intended targets were Naim Qassem and Mohammad Raad. Later, Saudi news channel Al Hadath reported Raad's whereabouts were unknown and stated his body was being searched for in the rubble. The IDF said Hezbollah's intelligence chief, Hussain Makled, was killed in the strikes. Adham Adnan al-Othman, senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Lebanon, was also killed in an airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs.
On 3 March, Hezbollah fired missiles and drones targeting three Israeli bases, Ramat David Airbase, the Meron monitoring base and Camp Yitzhak. Israel carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds and also targeted Al-Manar TV's headquarters in Beirut. Later on in the day, Israeli forces were ordered to seize positions within Lebanon. Israel said its military had seized "strategic areas" in southern Lebanon while ordering nearby Lebanese towns to evacuate. Israel struck Yohmor with white phosphorus, illegal under international law, causing several homes to catch fire.
On 4 March, Hezbollah launched drone and missiles into Israel, attempting to hit military bases and oil and gas infrastructures. Hezbollah anti-tank fire caused moderate injuries to two Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, making them the first Israeli injuries of the conflict. Israel launched strikes targeting the communications centres of Hezbollah, during which al-Manar TV station and al-Nour radio station were struck. More strikes were focused on villages in southern Lebanon used by Hezbollah. Following Hezbollah's continued attacks, Israel issued an immediate urgent evacuation warning to South Lebanon residents, telling them to move north of the Litani River. UN peacekeeping force reported Israeli soldiers entered several towns and villages in Southern Lebanon, including Kfar Kila, Houla, Kfar Shouba, Yaroun and Khiam.
Israel carried out an incursion into southern Syria on 4 March, shelling the area between Jamla and Saisoun in Daraa Governorate, and arrested four civilians. Israel accused Syria of deploying combat units to the Syrian Golan Heights, stating it will not allow the Hezbollah–Israel strikes to be used as a pretext to "harm the Druze" in southern Syria and demanded the Syrian government prevent Iraqi militias from crossing Syrian territory towards the Golan Heights.
UNIFIL published on 5 March that since 2 March it monitored over 210 missiles fired by Hezbollah into Israel. Israel killed a Hamas official in a strike in Beirut, as well as several strikes early in the day, including two in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut. More attacks continued, targeting Hezbollah facilities and operatives, as it renewed its evacuation warning to residence in Southern Lebanon, close to sites it will target. At midday, the IDF published an immediate evacuation notice to the southern suburbs of Beirut, specifically Bourj el-Barajneh, Hadath, Haret Hreik and Chiyah. Residents were advised by the IDF to move north and east.
After Israel ordered inhabitants of the entire portion of Lebanon that is south of the Litani River to evacuate (along with some other areas), Hezbollah issued its own orders to civilians in a five-kilometer-wide strip of Israeli territory bordering Lebanon to evacuate. This message was published by Hezbollah in Hebrew, along with maps of the zone to be evacuated. Israeli sources described Hezbollah's self-described evacuation orders as psychological warfare; Israel said it is not evacuating the area. Hezbollah repeated the supposed evacuation order in the following days and weeks.
Hezbollah conducted a series of attacks on Israel and Israeli forces on 6 March, launching rockets and artillery shells toward the Golan Heights and Haifa. During the night and morning after issuing advance warnings to minimize civilian casualties, Israel launched a series of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah headquarters located in ten high-rise buildings in Beirut. The strikes also targeted warehouses where drones used in attacks against Israel were reportedly stored. A Hezbollah projectile fired near the Lebanese border injured eight Israeli soldiers, five severely. Among the injured was the son of far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. Two Israeli missile strikes hit a UNIFIL battalion headquarters in al-Qaouzah in Bint Jbeil, injuring four UN peacekeepers from Ghana.
On 7 March, Hezbollah continued firing missiles and rockets into northern Israel; no deaths were reported. Israel's retaliation included attacks in the eastern Lebanese town of Nabi Chit, were reports say an operation to search for Ron Arad took place. The Lebanese health ministry reported that Israeli military killed over 41 people there, and injured 40 more. The deaths include at least three soldiers of the Lebanese Armed Forces and one from Lebanon's General Security Directorate. Later that day an evacuation notice was issued by the IDF to Zqouq El Mufdi, Tyre. These evacuation notices were followed by "Save your lives" notices and reminders to residents to stay away from their homes.
Israel launched an airstrike on the Ramada hotel building in central Beirut on 8 March, killing four key Iranian commanders of the IRGC's elite Quds Force, who were planning terror attacks on Israel. Later the Israeli army stated they killed five senior commanders from the Lebanon Corps of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in a precise strike in Beirut. Netanyahu said: "Whoever lays down their arms will save their life, and whoever doesn't, their blood will be spilled." A Hezbollah rocket attack in southern Lebanon damaged a Puma armored engineering vehicle and then hit a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer attempting to assist the vehicle, killing two soldiers.
Constantinos Kombos, Cyprus's Foreign Minister, stated the explosive-packed drones launched from Lebanon towards the island, were launched by Hezbollah, targeting British bases there.
Airstrike on Ghazali family home (5 March)
On the evening of 5 March 2026, four members of the Ghazali family were killed by an Israeli airstrike on their home in Mashghara, southern Lebanon. The attack on the family home occurred while they were gathered for Iftar, the meal that breaks the fast at the end of the day in Ramadan. The men's maternal uncle, Fouad Qasem, who lived nearby, helped recover the bodies. He told NPR, "I held my own flesh and blood in my hands... What did the children do to deserve this?"
On 8 March, a memorial service was held for the family in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, where other family members lived. The service was attended by hundreds of people.
One of the family members in Michigan was United States citizen Ayman Ghazali, the men's brother and the children's uncle. On 12 March, Ayman Ghazali attacked the Temple Israel synagogue. Ayman's suicide was the only death in the attack, but a security guard was injured and responding police officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
On 15 March, the IDF claimed responsibility for the attack in Lebanon, alleging that Ibrahim Ghazali (the children's father) was a Hezbollah commander and describing Ibrahim as "eliminated", the term the IDF uses for assassinations. The IDF's Arabic language spokesperson Avichai Adraee further alleged that Ibrahim Ghazali was in Hezbollah's anti-tank missile unit. In response to the statements by Israel, a Hezbollah spokesperson said that none of the family members were affiliated with Hezbollah.
Second week (9–15 March)
A double strike on a house in Al-Qlayaa killed Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest Father Pierre al-Rahi. According to Hezbollah, on 9 March the organization fought Israeli forces that landed once again in eastern Lebanon near Nabi Sheet. This time they were 15 Israeli helicopters that came from the Syrian side of the border. Hezbollah kept firing rocket and missiles in to Israel. During the day Israel targeted strikes on the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association, an US-sanctioned institution known for funding Hezbollah. Before mid night, the Syrian Army informed Hezbollah shelled their positions. The Syrian Army declared they detected Hezbollah's reinforcements at the Syrian-Lebanese border.
The Syrian Army said they would coordinate a possible Syrian response to Hezbollah's actions with the Lebanese government side. On the same day, Syria reported early in the morning that artillery shells fired from Lebanon landed near a town 20 miles west of Damascus. Syria accused Hezbollah of targeting Syrian army positions in the area and said that it had observed Hezbollah reinforcements arriving along the Lebanon–Syria border, warning that it would respond to any attack on its territory.