Why Did Israel Just Attack Lebanon? What You Need To Know

Israel and the Lebanon-based militants Hezbollah traded blows again on Tuesday, as fears of full-blown war in the area rise.

The Shia Islamist group, backed by Iran, have been exchanging fire with Israel for months but the last few days have seen a significant escalation.

Almost 560 people, including 50 children, were killed by an Israeli bombardment of Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanese authorities.

It was the deadliest day of strikes in the country since 2006, when Israel and Lebanon were engaged in an all-out war.

The Israeli military also called for residents in south and eastern Lebanon to evacuate as it looks to expands its aerial campaign. 

Thousands are now fleeing, leading to the biggest exodus from Lebanon in almost 20 years.

Amid worries the country could soon become as war-torn as the Palestinian territory of Gaza, here’s what you need to know.

What’s happened?

Last week, Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies started to exploded across Lebanon, killing many and breaking apart the military’s infrastructure.

Israel did not take responsibility for the incident but it was widely blamed for the violence.

Hezbollah vowed to retaliate and launched rockets into northern Israel on Friday.

The commander of Hezbollah’s most elite unit, Ibrahim Akil, was killed in a strike in Beirut which killed at least 45 people later that same day.

Hezbollah then started to launch more than 100 rockets into northern Israel on early Sunday, and Israel returned the fire with hundreds of its own strikes.

Then, on Monday, Israel launched a massive bombardment – the largest since the 2006 war – claiming it hit a Hezbollah militant cell.

Israeli leaders also have warned of a larger operation to come and urged residents to leave areas where Hezbollah is storing weapons.

Israel claims this is part of an effort to push Hezbollah out of a 10km area at the south of Lebanon so the displaced Israelis who lived near the border can return home.

Then on Tuesday, Hezbollah said it was retaliating by attacking several Israeli targets – including an explosives factory 37 miles into Israel.

In the meantime, civilians are desperately trying to escape the conflict zone in south and east Lebanon.

Hotels are being booked to capacity and room priced are soaring, meaning many of the displaced families in Beirut and Sidon are sleeping in cars, parks or on the seafront.

The border crossing with Syria also saw huge traffic build-ups as people fled Lebanon to the neighbouring country.

Alerts are also sounding across northern Israel amid expectations of further Hezbollah strikes.

Why are the two countries fighting?

Lebanon and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war for more than 40 years, with friction between the countries rising after the Gaza war began last October.

Hezbollah is part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance, a group of militant organisations across the Middle East that includes Hamas.

Hamas are the Palestinian militants who killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, and took around 250 others hostage.

Israel declared war and invaded Gaza. Authorities say more than 40,000 Palestinians have died since.  

Hezbollah have been hitting out at Israel over the last 11 months, supposedly in an effort to defend Hamas.

Before Monday’s attack, around 600 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters, had been killed in the cross-border attacks.

It also comes months after Hezbollah’s senior military commander Fuad Shukr was assassinated, leaving the group in the worst crisis it has faced in four decades at the time of Israel’s strike on Monday.

But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We do not wait for a threat. We anticipate it. Anywhere, in any arena, at any time. We eliminate senior officials, eliminate terrorists, eliminate missiles.”

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) claim to be fully prepared for a ground invasion of Lebanon if necessary.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah warned last week that Israel should try to create an Israeli-controlled buffer zone in Lebanon, there would  “dire consequences” for Israel.

What happens next?

Both sides say they do not want a war, but Nasrallah said last week that Hezbollah’s strikes would not end until Israel’s campaign in Gaza ends.

US efforts to defuse the tensions have been unsuccessful so far, the Gaza war continues and Israel hostages are yet to be released.

Israel has not made an official decision to expand operations against Hezbollah, but it is accumulating troops along the Lebanese border as fighting slows in Gaza.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said last week that there was a new phase as Israel turns its focus to Hezbollah, adding: “The centre of gravity is shifting towards the north.”