March 18, 2026

Israeli air strikes have destroyed two bridges over the Litani River linking southern Lebanon with the rest of the country, the military says.

It comes hours after the Israeli military said it would target crossings it alleged were being used by the Hezbollah armed group to move fighters and weapons.

Elsewhere, Israeli strikes hit multiple locations in Beirut, killing at least 12 people and wounding 27, Lebanese authorities said. The escalation marks a widening of Israeli strikes beyond the southern suburbs into central Beirut.

The Lebanese health ministry says that 968 people, including at least 111 children, have been killed since 2 March.

Lebanon was drawn into the US-Israel war against Iran when Iran-backed Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel. Israel responded with air strikes and later sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.

Defence minister Israel Katz said the bridges were targeted on Wednesday in a “direct action against Hezbollah’s use of Lebanon’s state infrastructure to advance terrorist activity”. Hezbollah has not yet commented.

Israeli air strikes have demolished two key bridges over the Litani River, severing southern Lebanon's connection to the rest of the country in a move targeting Hezbollah's alleged transport routes for fighters and weapons, while simultaneous attacks across Beirut killed at least 12 people and wounded 27, signaling a sharp escalation of conflict that has already claimed 968 lives since early March; this intensification comes amid ongoing hostilities following Hezbollah's missile attacks on Israel, prompting Israeli military retaliation and a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, with Israel’s defense minister framing the bridge strikes as a direct action against Hezbollah’s use of Lebanese infrastructure for terrorism.

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