Israeli strikes pummel Lebanon, killing 250 in deadliest day of war

Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month, killing more than 250 people on Wednesday, as the Iran-aligned group resumed rocket attacks on northern Israel after a brief pause under the two-week US-Iran ceasefire.

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The strikes raised questions about regional truce efforts, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian saying a ceasefire in Lebanon was an essential condition of his country’s agreement with the US.

On Wednesday afternoon, at least five consecutive strikes rocked the capital Beirut, sending columns of smoke into the sky as Israel’s military said it had launched the largest coordinated strike of the war. More than 100 Hezbollah command centers and military sites were targeted in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon within ten minutes, it said.

A total of 254 people were killed and over 1,100 wounded across Lebanon, the country’s civil defense service said. The highest toll was in Beirut, where 91 people were killed. The health ministry gave a toll of 182 dead across the country and said it was not a final figure.

Hezbollah said early on Thursday it fired rockets at the small kibbutz of Manara, citing what it described as Israel’s ceasefire violations.

“This response will continue until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people ceases,” the group said in a statement.

It was the deadliest day of the war that erupted on March 2, when Hezbollah fired into Israel in support of Tehran after the US-Israeli attack on Iran two days earlier. Israel launched a fully-fledged air and ground campaign in response.