The Israeli military on Friday said it carried out an air strike on a bridge in southern Lebanon, in what appeared to be the first time during the current campaign against Hezbollah that Israel acknowledged targeting civilian infrastructure.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said it struck the Zrariyeh bridge, which spans the Litani River, describing it as a key crossing used by Hezbollah militants moving between northern and southern Lebanon.
According to the military, Hezbollah fighters had positioned rocket launchers near the bridge and had carried out attacks on Israel from the surrounding area.
“The bridge served as a vital route for Hezbollah operatives transferring weapons and carrying out attacks against Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said, adding that the strike was necessary to eliminate a threat to Israeli civilians.
However, the military did not provide evidence to substantiate its claim that the bridge was being used by Hezbollah militants.
Earlier on Friday, Lebanon’s state media reported that a drone strike hit a residential apartment in Beirut’s Burj Hammoud district, located on the northern outskirts of the Lebanese capital. The attack marked the first time the area has been targeted since the latest escalation began.
The strikes come as Israeli forces have carried out near-daily attacks across Lebanon this week as part of a broader offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
The escalation followed attacks launched by Hezbollah on March 2, which the group said were intended to avenge the killing of Ali Khamenei at the outset of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli War on Iran.
The intensifying cross-border violence has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, with reports indicating that hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced amid the continuing air strikes.
Boluwatife Enome
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