Wassim Seifeddin
18 March 2026•Update: 18 March 2026
ISTANBUL
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 39 people and wounded 68 others across Lebanon since early Wednesday, as Israel continued to expand its offensive in the Arab country, medics and local media said.
Six people were killed when warplanes struck and destroyed five homes in the town of Sohmor in western Bekaa, the state news agency NNA reported.
In Baalbek, four people were killed and seven wounded in another Israeli strike, according to the Health Ministry.
Four Syrians were also killed in another attack in the town of Jibchit in Nabatieh, the ministry added.
The Civil Defense Directorate said 11 civil defense personnel were wounded when a strike hit near their center in Nabatieh.
Three people were killed and another wounded in Habboush in southern Lebanon, with rescue teams still searching for eight missing, the Health Ministry said.
An Israeli strike on a vehicle along Sidon’s coastal road killed two more people, including a paramedic, and wounded another, the ministry added.
In Sidon, three people were killed in a strike on their home in Qanaarit, the NNA said.
Two more were killed and several others wounded in a strike targeting a site of the Islamic Health Authority in the Bir al-Salasil area of Khirbet Salam, the same source said.
The state news agency also reported two people killed and seven wounded, including an injured child, in a strike on a residential building in Deir al-Zahrani.
Additional strikes killed one person in Borj Qallawiya, according to state media.
In the capital Beirut, at least 12 people were killed and 41 wounded in three strikes targeting the Basta and Zokak al-Blat areas, the Health Ministry said.
Al-Manar TV said in a statement that its political programs director, Mohammad Shre, and his wife were killed in a strike on their home in Zokak al-Blat.
Lebanese authorities said Israel issued evacuation warnings for several areas in Lebanon, triggering panic among civilians, including displaced people in Sidon.
According to Lebanese authorities, at least 912 people have been killed and 2,221 injured in Israeli strikes across Lebanon since March 2.
The current escalation followed a joint US-Israeli offensive on Iran, which has killed around 1,300 people since Feb. 28. Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries, which it says are targeting “US military assets.”
*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul
