Lebanon fears return of Israeli occupation as Beirut strikes loom
Israeli forces are deep inside Lebanese territory as the southern suburbs of Beirut brace for airstrikes.
BEIRUT — Traffic jams paralyzed the roads leading out of Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday after Israel ordered its military to carry out strikes against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in the Lebanese capital and as Israeli forces continued to advance in southern Lebanon.
Online footage showed Lebanese civilians fleeing the Dahiyeh area in their cars.
بعد إعلان إسرائيل تصعيدها في الضاحية الجنوبية زحمة سير في الطيونة بسبب حركة النزوح#LBCINews pic.twitter.com/4qzZ6ywUpr
— LBCI Lebanon News (@LBCI_NEWS) June 1, 2026
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that they have instructed the military to strike “terrorist targets in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut” in response to the “repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the Hezbollah terror organization and the attacks against our cities and citizens.”
While Israeli strikes have continued in southern Lebanon despite a US-brokered ceasefire announced last month, the capital Beirut and its suburbs have largely been spared, with two targeted precision strikes carried out in the past two and a half weeks.
Last Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building near the city of Choueifat, south of Beirut. The military said that its aim was Ali al-Husseini, a missile commander in the Imam Hussein Division, a brigade created by Iran’s Quds Force that operates alongside Hezbollah.
While Iran and Hezbollah have yet to comment on the strike, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf denounced Israel’s escalation in Lebanon. Referencing the Strait of Hormuz, he wrote on X Monday, “The naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon by the genocidal Zionist regime are clear evidence of US noncompliance with the cease-fire.”
On May 16, another strike in the Haret Hreik area of Dahiyeh killed Ahmad Ghaleb Ballout, an official in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces.
The escalation comes despite a diplomatic push by the US to avoid the expansion of Israel's Lebanon strikes, which could derail the ongoing US-brokered talks between the Lebanese and Israeli sides.
Axios reported on Monday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio held separate phone calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past 48 hours to present a de-escalation proposal. Under it, Hezbollah would halt its attacks on Israel and in return, Israel would refrain from further escalation in Beirut.
However, the US efforts appear to have failed amid Israeli reports that the Trump administration gave Israel the green light to expand its operations toward the Lebanese capital.
Lebanese and Israeli delegations are scheduled to meet for a fourth round of talks in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of the ceasefire and the Lebanese plan to disarm Hezbollah.
Israel accused Hezbollah of working to regroup and rearm in violation of the ceasefire, while the group continued to launch attacks at Israeli forces inside Lebanon and northern Israel.
Israel in southern Lebanon
As Israel expands its air campaign to Beirut and advances deep into Lebanese territory, Lebanese fears are growing about another Israeli occupation of the south.
Israeli forces have pushed past the Litani River some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border with Israel since the resumption of hostilities on March 2, flattening entire villages and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
On Sunday, Israeli forces seized the strategic Beaufort Castle in the village of Arnoun of the Nabatieh district. Videos circulating online showed the Israeli flag flying above the medieval fortress overlooking south Lebanon and northern Israel.
🔴 The Israeli Army released new footage of Golani Brigade soldiers operating on Shaqif Castle (Beaufort) grounds near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/bXt4B2IWpy
— This Is Beirut (@ThisIsBeirut_) May 31, 2026
The 12th-century Beaufort Castle once served as a military base for Crusaders and later for the Ottomans.
Israeli forces captured the castle from the Palestine Liberation Organization during the First Lebanon War in 1982 and used it as their base during their two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israeli ground forces have encircled the city of Nabatieh, a major center in southern Lebanon, and airstrikes are pounding the surrounding areas. Nabatieh is a major stronghold for the Shiite Amal movement, which is headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah.
Israel also appears to be eying Tyre, Lebanon’s fourth largest city, which lies on the Mediterranean coast in the south, with troops advancing there and airstrikes nearing the city.
Last week, Israel declared all areas south of the Zahrani River, an area roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border and including Tyre, to be active combat zones.
The last time Israel maintained a military presence so deep inside Lebanon was during its occupation of the country between 1985 and 2000, maintaining a so-called security zone stretching 5-20 kilometers into southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials have been pushing for the full implementation of the ceasefire before any potential peace or normalization agreement with Israel.
In a televised speech on Sunday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” in the south of the country.
“In light of the dangerous and unprecedented Israeli escalation over the past few days, it is necessary to step up political and diplomatic efforts to achieve a swift and real ceasefire,” Salam said.
Aoun called for unity in the country to overcome Israel's “fierce and condemnable Israeli aggression.”
In a statement marking the 39th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Rashid Karami, Aoun vowed to protect the Lebanese people, particularly in the south, and to restore "the state, reform and justice.”
