Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on March 2, 2026
| Photo Credit: AP
Israel’s military said on Monday (March 2, 2026) it struck a senior Hezbollah operative in Beirut, with the Defence Minister saying the Lebanese group’s chief Naim Qassem is “a marked target”.
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“A short while ago, the (Israeli military) precisely struck a senior Hezbollah terrorist in Beirut,” the military said. AFPTV showed smoke rising from the southern Beirut district of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of Hezbollah.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on X that Iran-backed Hezbollah’s chief was now “a marked target for elimination”.
Israeli military boosts presence near Lebanon border
Israel has bolstered its military presence on its side of the border with Lebanon but there are no immediate plans for a ground invasion of its neighbour, Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said.
“We haven’t expanded our presence on the ground inside Lebanon,” he told an online news briefing.
Earlier, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, another Israeli military spokesperson, told reporters that all options remained on the table when asked about the prospects of a ground invasion of Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Published – March 02, 2026 03:27 pm IST
