October 1, 2026
BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Beirut on Wednesday afternoon, hours after a ceasefire was announced in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Lebanon’s health ministry said dozens were killed and hundreds wounded in an early estimate.
U.S. President Donald Trump told PBS News Hour that Lebanon was not included in the deal because of Hezbollah. When asked about Israel’s latest strikes, he said, “That’s a separate skirmish.” Israel had said the agreement does not extend to its war with the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, although mediator Pakistan said it does.
In response to the attacks on Lebanon, Iran later Wednesday said it will once again halt the movement of oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the country's state-run media reported.
Israel’s military launched what it called its largest coordinated strike in the current war, hitting more than 100 Hezbollah targets within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa valley.
Black smoke towered over several parts of the seaside capital, where a huge number of people displaced by war have taken shelter. Explosions interrupted the honking of traffic on what had been a bustling, blue-sky afternoon. Ambulances raced toward open flames. Apartment buildings were struck.
There was no sign of Hezbollah launching strikes against Israel in the first couple of hours after the attacks.
Central Beirut has been targeted before, but not by so many strikes at once and in the middle of the day. Israel had rarely struck central Beirut since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2, but has regularly struck southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Lebanon's Minister of Social Affairs, Haneed Sayed, in an interview with The Associated Press, said Lebanon's government is ready to enter into negotiations with Israel for an end to hostilities, an offer that the president previously made. Israel has not responded. “There are calls and efforts being made as we speak," Sayed said.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in a statement, accused Israel of escalating at a moment when Lebanese officials were seeking to negotiate a solution, and of hitting civilian areas in “utter disregard for the principles of international law and international humanitarian law — principles it has, in any case, never respected.”
Israel's military said it had targeted missile launchers, command centers, and intelligence infrastructure. It accused Hezbollah terrorists of trying to “blend into” non-Shiite Muslim areas beyond their traditional strongholds.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem that “his turn will come.” In 2024, Israel killed the previous Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, with an airstrike.
Katz called Wednesday's strikes the largest blow against Hezbollah since the attack that caused pagers used by hundreds of its members to explode almost simultaneously in September 2024.
Hezbollah had fired missiles across the border days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, sparking a regional war. Israel responded with widespread bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion.
The Israeli military chief of staff, Lt Gen. Eyal Zamir, said the attacks are to protect Israel’s northern residents, who have come under heavy fire.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,530 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon's health ministry. The Israeli military has said it has killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters.
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Updated with Iran closing Strait of Hormuz in response.
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