Thick plumes of smoke rose from the debris of structures flattened by an Israeli airstrike that struck Beirut’s southern suburbs during the night. On March 5, Israel issued a sweeping evacuation notice covering the whole of the southern districts of the Lebanese capital.
Fear has spread across Beirut after the large-scale evacuation directive announced earlier in the week. Numerous residents have tried to leave the affected areas while Israeli air raids have continued to strike different parts of Lebanon.
State media reported that several Ghanaian troops serving with a United Nations peacekeeping mission were injured after their base in southern Lebanon was struck. Authorities did not identify who carried out the attack.
Israel has been carrying out military operations in southern Lebanon as part of its ongoing confrontation with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
According to Lebanese state media, fighting broke out along the Lebanon–Syria border on Saturday when Israel reportedly attempted a landing operation. Hezbollah later confirmed that its fighters were engaged in the clashes.
Strikes across the Middle East
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry announced on Saturday that it had intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at an airbase hosting United States military personnel, as Iran intensified its offensive actions across the Gulf region.
The kingdom’s state news agency also reported that a drone attack targeting an oilfield near the border with the United Arab Emirates was successfully stopped. This came after at least two drone incidents earlier in the week that targeted the Ras Tanura refinery in the eastern part of the country.
Journalists from AFP reported hearing blasts in Dubai and in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on Saturday. The explosions occurred a week after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on various locations across the Gulf. A warning siren sounded in Manama, and Bahrain’s interior ministry urged residents through a post on X to “head to the nearest safe place.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said its air defence systems were intercepting Iranian missile strikes on Saturday. The attacks triggered air raid sirens and alerts in several parts of Israel.