Israeli air strikes intensified across Lebanon on Wednesday, hitting targets in and around Beirut and in the country’s east, as the military widened evacuation orders amid escalating hostilities with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state media reported that the Comfort Hotel, located on the border of Beirut’s Hazmieh and Baabda districts, was struck. Footage verified by local sources showed heavy structural damage, with shattered windows, collapsed walls and debris strewn across the area.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera correspondent Heidi Pett said the strike appeared to have been carried out without prior warning, raising speculation that it may have been aimed at a specific individual. The Israeli military has not disclosed the intended target but maintains that its operations focus on Hezbollah infrastructure embedded within densely populated neighbourhoods.
Further bombardment was reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs, long regarded as a Hezbollah stronghold. The Israeli army said it was continuing to hit what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the capital.
In eastern Lebanon, near the Syrian border, an air strike on a residential building in the al-Matraba neighbourhood of Baalbek killed at least four people and injured 11, according to Lebanese media. Video from the scene showed rescue teams searching through the rubble of a collapsed multi storey structure.
Separate attacks in the Mount Lebanon towns of Aramoun and Saadiyat left at least six people dead and eight wounded, reports said.
Since the latest round of escalation began, more than 40 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon. Lebanese army sources said at least four soldiers were wounded in one incident, including one in critical condition.
As the fighting intensifies, Israel has expanded its displacement directives. The military’s Arabic language spokesperson issued new evacuation orders for areas including Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburbs, publishing maps that marked buildings it claims are linked to Hezbollah and urging residents to leave immediately.
Additional warnings were issued for 16 towns in southern Lebanon, followed by 13 more, adding to earlier calls for evacuations in over 50 localities as Israel seeks to establish what it calls a buffer zone along the border.
Hezbollah said it responded by launching rockets towards Israeli positions, including the northern town of Metulla, and by firing a missile at a naval facility in Haifa. Israeli authorities said most of the incoming projectiles were intercepted, with one landing in an open area.
In a sharply worded statement, the Israeli military also warned what it described as representatives of the Iranian regime in Lebanon to leave within 24 hours or risk being targeted.
Human Rights Watch criticised the threat, saying that targeting non combatant government officials would amount to a war crime under international humanitarian law, which protects civilians not directly participating in hostilities.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, also reporting from Beirut, said the pace of events pointed to a rapidly expanding confrontation with no clear front line and no visible diplomatic effort to contain it. Thousands have been displaced, and concerns are mounting that the conflict could draw in other regional actors.
