Israel and Iran strikes push Lebanon closer to wider regional war

Saturday 28 February 2026 - 11:31

By: Dakir Madiha

Israel and Iran strikes push Lebanon closer to wider regional war

Israeli jets and artillery pounded Hezbollah positions across southern Lebanon on Saturday, striking what the army described as rocket launch sites, weapons depots and underground tunnels as the conflict around Iran spilled openly across the region. The operations came in parallel with a joint U.S.–Israeli campaign against targets in Iran, which triggered retaliatory Iranian missile fire on Israel and American bases in the Middle East, according to German media reports. President Donald Trump called the strikes on Iran “massive and ongoing,” framing them as an effort to blunt Tehran’s military capabilities and deter further attacks.

Israeli officials said the latest campaign in Lebanon aimed to weaken Hezbollah’s ability to launch missiles and rockets, accusing the group of systematically rebuilding its forces in violation of a November 2024 ceasefire agreement. Under that deal, Israel was required to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon and allow only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to patrol the border area. Instead, Israel has kept positions at several border outposts, while carrying out regular airstrikes and artillery fire against what it calls Hezbollah infrastructure and combatants.

Lebanese authorities and international monitors say the truce has been largely nominal. The Lebanese Health Ministry and UN agencies report that more than 330 people have been killed and about 945 wounded in Lebanon by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect, including at least 127 civilians. The UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL has documented more than 10,000 Israeli air and ground violations inside Lebanon in the same period, underscoring the fragility of the arrangement. UN officials have urged both sides to comply with Security Council Resolution 1701 and warned that continued strikes and incursions risk igniting a broader conflict.

Israel says its actions are a defensive response to ongoing threats from Hezbollah, which it considers a terrorist organization and a key Iranian proxy. Israeli military assessments cited by security analysts say operations since 2024 have killed thousands of Hezbollah fighters and destroyed large parts of the group’s arsenal. Despite these losses, Hezbollah has maintained a presence near the border and periodically launched rockets and drones toward Israeli territory, feeding fears of another full-scale war.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam used unusually direct language on Saturday to warn that he would not accept any actor dragging “the country into adventures that threaten its security and unity,” in what he clearly intended as a message to Hezbollah. In a statement issued after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran, Salam urged all Lebanese “to act with prudence and patriotism” and to put national interests and civilian safety above regional agendas. He stressed that Lebanon, grappling with deep economic and political crises, could not bear the cost of being pulled deeper into a confrontation between Washington, Tel Aviv and Tehran.

Hezbollah’s leadership has signaled that it does not view itself as neutral in the standoff between the United States and Iran and reserves the right to intervene if it believes Lebanon or its allies are under direct threat. Israeli officials, for their part, have warned that any large-scale Hezbollah intervention on Iran’s behalf would trigger sweeping attacks on Lebanese infrastructure, including critical civilian sites such as the main airport. Diplomats and UN mediators say the combination of sustained Israeli strikes, Hezbollah’s declared alignment with Iran, and the new U.S.–Israeli operation against Tehran has sharply raised the risk that limited clashes along the border could spiral into a regional war drawing in multiple states and non-state armed groups.