Israel warns it will 'strike everywhere in Lebanon' after rockets are fired at it

Israel said on March 28 it will strike anywhere in Lebanon where it sees a threat, after rocket fire prompted it to bomb Beirut for the first time during the fragile four-month-old truce with Hezbollah.

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BEIRUT -

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam described the strike on Beirut's southern suburbs as "a dangerous escalation" and French President Emmanuel Macron called it an "unacceptable" truce violation.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported no casualties from the Beirut attack but said Israeli strikes in the south killed five people.

It was the second time rockets had been launched at Israel from Lebanon since the November ceasefire — the first was on March 22 — and the second time Iran-backed Hezbollah denied involvement.

"The equation has changed," Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "We will continue to enforce the ceasefire with force, strike everywhere in Lebanon against any threat to the state of Israel."

Israel has continued to carry out often-deadly air raids in southern and eastern Lebanon since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement.

But the March 28 attack was the first in the capital's southern suburbs since the ceasefire. It came after the military warned residents to "immediately evacuate" the area.

It said the attack targeted a "site used to store UAVs by Hezbollah's Aerial Unit (127) in the area of Dahieh, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold".

Israel heavily bombed the area during its war with the group in 2024.