Family members ride in a damaged car, as they flee the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit an apartment building in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Israel expanded its strikes in Lebanon on March 13, targeting multiple areas including a bridge over the Litani river that it said Hezbollah had been using as a passageway for its fighters.
The raids came after Israel threatened to also carry out a ground operation to disarm Hezbollah if the Lebanese government does not do so.
Israel targeted a bridge over the Litani River between the towns of Zrariyeh and Tayr Falsay, according to state media. The river divides southern Lebanon in two.
In a statement, the Israeli army described the river as a "key crossing" for Hezbollah "from northern to southern Lebanon, to build up its power and prepare for combat.”
The attack is the first on Lebanese civilian infrastructure to be acknowledged by Israel since new fighting erupted with Hezbollah following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
On March 12, Israel had launched a series of air strikes on targets in the heart of Beirut and its southern suburbs. Israel also said it struck Hezbollah "command centers" in several waves of strikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he told the Lebanese government that "you are playing with fire if you continue allowing Hezbollah to operate, in violation of your commitment to disarm it.”
Overnight March 12 into 13, the Israeli army carried out new air raids, targeting an apartment near Bourj Hammoud in Beirut's northern suburbs, an area that had remained untouched by the war.
An AFP photographer saw an upper floor of the building with its facade shattered and walls blackened by the strike.
