Israel says striking Hezbollah sites in Beirut after destroying bridge

The Israeli military said Saturday it had begun striking “Hezbollah infrastructure” in Beirut after it destroyed a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group’s reinforcements from crossing. An AFP journalist heard two loud explosions in the capital within half an hour early Saturday and saw smoke billowing from one of them. Local media reported two strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a locality that has been a target of Israeli strikes in recent days as the military presses on with its ground invasion in the country’s south.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Friday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said a blast at one of its positions in the country’s south near the border wounded three peacekeepers, the third similar incident in days. Israel’s military had warned that it would target two adjacent bridges over the Litani River in the area “to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment”.

The Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA) said: “Israeli warplanes targeted the bridge that links Sohmor with Mashghara, leading to its destruction.” Lebanese local media reported that a second bridge was also hit. The strikes in Sohmor continued into early Saturday, with the NNA reporting the town’s centre being hit twice as warplanes roared in the skies. Israel has previously struck five other bridges over the Litani in the country’s south, including most of the main routes crossing the waterway.