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Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on sites it described as Hezbollah command centers in Beirut’s southern suburbs Sunday, hours after Israeli officials said Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility.
The escalation came days after the U.S., Israel and Lebanon announced a renewed conditional ceasefire framework requiring Hezbollah to halt fire and withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon. It also followed the release of IDF footage that Israel said showed troops dismantling a Hezbollah explosives facility, where an outside expert said components appeared consistent with anti-personnel shrapnel devices designed to wound or kill people on foot.
The strikes mark a major cross-border escalation days after the U.S., Israel and Lebanon announced a renewed conditional ceasefire framework requiring Hezbollah to halt fire and withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the military action was direct retaliation for the group’s violation earlier in the day.
HEZBOLLAH FIRES BARRAGE OF ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL AFTER IDF TARGETS HEZBOLLAH COMMAND CENTERS IN BEIRUT
An explosion erupts from a building following an Israeli strike in central Beirut, Lebanon, on March 18, 2026. (Hussein Malla/AP Photo)
Concurrently, footage released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed troops locating and dismantling a hidden, booby-trapped explosives warehouse.
The multipurpose assembly hub appeared to contain materials that could be used in makeshift shrapnel and propane tanks to create a distributed, lethal network.
Nick Reese, an adjunct professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and a former U.S. national security adviser, told Digital that the captured weapons cache suggests a deliberate emphasis on personnel casualties, which could be military or civilian targets.
“Given the current situation, they probably targeted more military personnel. Shrapnel bombs are intended to hurt and kill people on foot,” Reese said.
“The video cuts between the IDF entering the building and showing the contents. It’s at this moment that they probably cleared any booby traps,” Reese added. “It would be standard practice to look for and disable any booby traps in a facility like this before going inside and before filming anything.”
“It’s possible the booby traps could be using shrapnel methods, but I can’t see evidence of that in the video. It shows what appears to be a shrapnel bomb, but it is not hidden so likely not a booby trap unless the IDF disarmed it off camera,” he said.
HEZBOLLAH ‘HUMAN SHIELD’ STRATEGY BEHIND LEBANON AMBUSH, BOMB DETONATION – MACRON DRAWN IN
Hezbollah worked to build facilities below private residential buildings and houses. (Benoît Durand / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
Among the items found in the raid was a container filled with nails and other sharp objects, which Reese noted are specific indicators of anti-personnel targeting.
“This video shows what appears to be a container with nails or other sharp implements in it,” Reese noted. “This is likely for creating shrapnel bombs intended to kill, wound, and maim targets.”
“Such devices are both effective and cause significant fear among the population, which was likely the intent,” Reese continued. “The method is not particularly sophisticated but shows that they were targeting humans, not simply hardware or infrastructure.”
“Making shrapnel bombs also tends to be cheap, easily concealed, and effective, especially against personnel. These types of bombs would likely have been in significant use.”
“The video shows a variety of materials that could have been used to create bombs, from makeshift shrapnel to what appears to be a propane tank,” Reese explained.
“These components would be used for very different purposes, so the location seems to have been a central general-purpose explosives-making facility.”
“Propane tanks would be used for larger targets like tanks or buildings, while shrapnel would be used against infantry or in public places,” Reese said.
US, ISRAEL ANNOUNCE TARGETED KILLINGS OF TERROR LEADERS IN SYRIA AND LEBANON
Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs following reported strikes amid escalating conflict involving Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, on March 6, 2026. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
The dismantling of the factory follows a high-profile decapitation strike against the leadership running these hidden networks.
The IDF announced Friday that an airstrike in Lebanon killed Hezbollah’s chief explosives engineer, Abed Harb, the commander of Hezbollah’s engineering unit, after he “attempted to harm” Israeli soldiers.
The military said Harb was a veteran commander responsible for “numerous attacks against IDF soldiers” over the decades.
When considering the expertise required to manage such operations, Reese observed: “Over a 20-year career, this is difficult to say. Given Iran’s well-known funding and support to Hezbollah and its experience fighting the Israelis in multiple conflicts, he likely had a mix of internal and external training combined with combat experience.”
“Harb was targeted as part of an effort to disrupt Hezbollah’s war-making infrastructure and limit its ability to continue to plan and execute large bombing operations against the IDF and civilian targets.”
“The loss of Abed Harb by Hezbollah is not just a loss of leadership but of institutional knowledge,” Reese added.
“His two decades of battlefield experience were significant to Hezbollah not only because of his bomb-making abilities but because of how he understood the IDF, Hezbollah, and the junior ranks.
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“As a member of Hezbollah since 2006, Harb likely had significant skills in making and disguising bombs over a 20-year career, which will be a blow to Hezbollah’s operational capabilities and infrastructure,” Reese said.
