2026 Lebanon war

Since 2 March 2026, there has been an ongoing war in Lebanon between Israel and the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, with Israel invading parts of Lebanon. It is a resumption of major fighting in the Hezbollah–Israel conflict that began in late 2023, and is part of the wider conflict in the Middle East. The war has precipitated a still-developing humanitarian crisis, resulted in deaths of more than 3,000 people (both militants and civilians) from Israeli strikes in Lebanon, seen the forced displacement of over 1 million (>20% of the country's population), and entailed the deployment of matériel and tactics that potentially constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began in October 2023, in response to the Gaza war. This led to the October 2024 Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. Despite a ceasefire agreement in November 2024, Israel continued airstrikes in Lebanon nearly every day, killing 331 people (of which at least 127 were civilians) by November 2025. Later, the total death toll reached 500. Hezbollah violated the ceasefire by rebuilding its militant infrastructure and weapons arsenal. On 28 February 2026, Israel and the United States launched a war against Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, and assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. In response, Hezbollah resumed rocket strikes on Israel. Israel responded with airstrikes across Lebanon, including the capital Beirut. The Israeli army began ground operations in southern Lebanon on 16 March, eventually deploying five divisions. Hezbollah fired drones and as many as 2,000 rockets into Israel, while Israel conducted hundreds of airstrikes across southern Lebanon, Beirut, and the Beqaa Valley. The main bridges on the Litani River were blown up by Israel to cut off the south from the rest of Lebanon. The southern town of Bint Jbeil became the main site of ground combat culminating in a battle. On 24 March, the Israeli defense minister announced that Israel would demolish Lebanese border villages and occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. The Lebanese government publicly condemned Hezbollah's renewed strikes against Israel for endangering and undermining the Lebanese state. It moved to ban Hezbollah's military activities, called on the group to place its weapons under government control and end unauthorized attacks from Lebanese territory. The Lebanese government also condemned Israel's planned occupation and attacks on civilians. Iran called for an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition for a wider ceasefire. In April, a temporary ceasefire was agreed between Iran and the US–Israel, and Hezbollah said that it also halted its attacks. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that the ceasefire did not apply to Lebanon, contradicting Iran and the Pakistani mediator Shehbaz Sharif. Hours after the ceasefire announcement, Israel launched its largest airstrikes of the war, killing more than 350 people. On 16 April, US president Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day truce. On 15 May, the truce was extended for another 45 days.