Lebanon's government said Wednesday Israeli strikes killed dozens and wounded hundreds across the country, with the capital Beirut hit by the most violent bombardment since the start of the war with militant group Hezbollah.
AFPTV's live broadcast showed plumes of smoke rising over Beirut and the suburbs, while AFP journalists saw panic in the streets before the Lebanese health ministry issued an emergency call for the capital's roads to be cleared for ambulances.
"In a very serious escalation, Israeli warplanes launched a wave of simultaneous airstrikes on several Lebanese areas, resulting in, in an initial count, dozens of martyrs and hundreds of wounded," the ministry said in a statement.
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military had carried out a surprise attack on Wednesday targeting hundreds of Hezbollah members across Lebanon, calling it the largest blow against the group since a 2024 operation involving pager bombs.
It came despite a deal for a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Hezbollah's backer Iran.
Simultaneous strikes on Beirut came without warning, prompting people on the street to start running and motorists to honk their horns in an effort to clear the way, according to AFP journalists.
"I saw the blast, it was very strong, and there were children killed, some with their hands cut off," Yasser Abdallah, who works in an appliance store in central Beirut, told AFP.
One of the strikes hit Corniche al-Mazraa, one of the main roads in the capital.
An AFP photographer saw widespread damage, buildings ablaze and destroyed cars.
The strikes came as Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel on March 2, claimed it was close to a "historic victory".
- Displaced warning -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said earlier that the truce excluded his country's fight with Hezbollah.
Israel renewed an evacuation order for an area more than 40 kilometres (25 miles) inside Lebanon, saying "the battle in Lebanon is ongoing", before also reiterating its call for residents of Beirut's southern suburbs to leave.
It also issued a warning for a building in the coastal city of Tyre, after striking another one near it.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported several strikes across the south.
Israel's attacks in recent weeks have killed more than 1,500 people and displaced over a million, according to Lebanese authorities, especially in the country's south, east and Beirut's southern suburbs, areas where Hezbollah holds sway.
On Wednesday an AFP correspondent in southern Lebanon saw small numbers of people heading south, some in cars and others carrying their children on motorcycles.
But Lebanon's military warned displaced people against returning south "since they may be exposing themselves to the ongoing Israeli attacks".
Hezbollah meanwhile said displaced people must "not head to the targeted villages, towns, and areas in the south, the Bekaa, and the southern suburbs of Beirut before the official and final ceasefire declaration in Lebanon is issued".
Staying in a tent near Beirut's southern suburbs, 50-year-old delivery worker Ali Youssef said he was "waiting for Hezbollah to issue an official statement".
Youssef said he was confident that "Iran will not let us down" if Israel keeps attacking Lebanon.
- 'Regional peace' -
In a statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed the two-week truce between Tehran and Washington, and said his government "continued efforts to ensure that the regional peace includes Lebanon in a stable and lasting manner".
Aoun noted that "the decision regarding war and peace ... rests solely with the Lebanese state".
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also welcomed the truce but called on the country's friends to help put an end to Israeli attacks following the series of deadly strikes across the country.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has acted as a mediator in the regional conflict, said the two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States applied "everywhere including Lebanon".
But Netanyahu later said the country was excluded, and a Lebanese official told AFP that authorities "have not been informed" of Lebanon being included in the truce.
