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Strike Hits Beirut Apartment Block as Lebanon Grapples with 800,000 Displaced

Emergency services inspect the damage after an Israeli strike targeted an apartment at a building in the Aisha Bakkar neighborhood, Beirut, Lebanon, 11 March 2026. (EPA)
Emergency services inspect the damage after an Israeli strike targeted an apartment at a building in the Aisha Bakkar neighborhood, Beirut, Lebanon, 11 March 2026. (EPA)
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Strike Hits Beirut Apartment Block as Lebanon Grapples with 800,000 Displaced

Emergency services inspect the damage after an Israeli strike targeted an apartment at a building in the Aisha Bakkar neighborhood, Beirut, Lebanon, 11 March 2026. (EPA)
Emergency services inspect the damage after an Israeli strike targeted an apartment at a building in the Aisha Bakkar neighborhood, Beirut, Lebanon, 11 March 2026. (EPA)

An Israeli strike hit an apartment block in central Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanese authorities said, further widening Israeli attacks in the capital beyond the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs where heavy bombardment continued. 

Israel launched an offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah after it opened fire on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli strikes have killed more than 600 people in Lebanon and uprooted 800,000 more, Lebanese authorities say. 

The Israeli military ordered reinforcements to the area bordering Lebanon including its elite Golani Brigade. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Hezbollah fighters were braced for the possibility of a full-scale Israeli invasion of the south. 

'THIS IS A NIGHTMARE' 

Footage showed heavy damage to two floors of the apartment block in Beirut's Aisha Bakkar neighborhood, and smoke rising from the building. Four people were ‌wounded in the ‌strike, the Lebanese health ministry said. 

The Israeli military did not comment on the strike. 

"The sound ‌was ⁠indescribable, the fear ⁠is indescribable. Enough is enough, enough. This is a nightmare, when will it end?" said Bassima Ramadan, a woman living across the street who was woken up by the strike around 5:30 a.m. (0330 GMT).  

It would mark the second Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut in four days. On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit a hotel in a seafront neighborhood. Israel said that strike killed five senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which established Hezbollah in 1982. 

Israel kept up heavy strikes on the southern suburbs on Wednesday, sending towers of smoke billowing across the skyline. 

Israel has ordered residents of the suburbs to leave, along with residents of a swathe of southern Lebanon and ⁠parts of the east - all areas where Hezbollah has a grip on security and political ‌sway. 

MEDIC, PRIEST KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKES 

Over 100,000 people are in organized shelters, ‌while others are staying with friends, family or are on the streets. 

After fleeing her village in the south, Mariam Rida, 73, said she spent $110 ‌for a night at a hotel, then three nights sleeping under a Beirut bridge and a few nights at ‌a school-turned-shelter. 

"I want to go back to my hometown. I'm afraid, I'm scared for myself. There are strikes here and there are strikes there, I’m confused about where to go," said Rida. 

Displaced people have struggled to reach shelters and once they do, they are living in "super rough conditions," said Maureen Philippon, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Lebanon director. 

Shelters lack showers and sufficient toilets, several families occupy the same rooms and there are fears of infectious diseases ‌spreading, she told Reuters. 

Lebanon's health ministry said on Wednesday that 634 people had been killed and more than 1,500 wounded in Israeli strikes since March 2. 

This week's toll includes Catholic ⁠priest Pierre al-Rahi and Red ⁠Cross medic Youssef Assaf. Both died after sustaining injuries in separate Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon earlier this week and were buried on Wednesday. 

Pope Leo offered his condolences for Rahi on Wednesday, saying he was a "true shepherd" who was killed while trying to help parishioners injured in a strike. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross mourned Assaf in a statement posted on social media, saying Assaf "lost his life while carrying out his humanitarian duty". 

ISRAEL PRESSES LEBANON AT UN 

The Israeli military says it has struck hundreds of Hezbollah targets since March 2, launching daily airstrikes in the south, Beirut's southern suburbs, and the Bekaa Valley. 

The Israeli military has sent more soldiers into south Lebanon and established new positions it said would help prevent Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. 

Lebanon said last year it aims to establish a state monopoly on arms and its cabinet last week outlawed Hezbollah's military activities. 

But Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said on Wednesday that Beirut needed to take direct action. 

"If Hezbollah is being dismantled, what are the evidence? What are the operations against the launch sites? Where are the seizures of their weapons? Where is your military?" Danon said. 

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Arab World

Iraqi, Jordanian, Syrian Military Officials Meet in Amman to Bolster Readiness

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Yahya Rasool. (Government media)
Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Yahya Rasool. (Government media)
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Iraqi, Jordanian, Syrian Military Officials Meet in Amman to Bolster Readiness

Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Yahya Rasool. (Government media)
Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Yahya Rasool. (Government media)

Senior Iraqi, Jordanian and Syrian military officials agreed Tuesday to step up coordination, information-sharing and joint military readiness to address current and future security challenges in the region, said Iraq’s Defense Ministry.

Yahya Rasool, the ministry’s spokesman, said Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Gen. Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah attended a high-level meeting in Amman with Jordan’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Syria’s chief of the General Staff. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Peshmerga affairs minister and Peshmerga chief of staff also took part.

The talks focused on strengthening military ties and cooperation amid rapidly evolving regional developments and security challenges.

Participants discussed regional security, border protection and cross-border threats, stressed closer coordination and greater exchanges of information and expertise. They agreed on the need to strengthen joint capabilities and operational readiness.

The military leaders said that rapidly changing conditions in the region required coordinated efforts and continued communication among military and security institutions to protect borders, safeguard national sovereignty and confront threats effectively.

They underscored the importance of expanding existing military cooperation and sharing expertise to bolster defense capabilities, operational readiness and regional stability.

Rasool said the meeting reflected Iraq’s commitment to strengthening military ties with countries in the region and expanding coordination to address security challenges and protect borders.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Yarallah met the commander of US Central Command to discuss military cooperation and coordination, the latest regional security developments and ways to strengthen joint efforts in support of security and stability.

Arab World

Repeated Drone Attacks Threaten Libya’s Oil Production

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a fuel storage tank at the Zawiya oil depot, west of Tripoli, Libya, 11 August 2026. (EPA)
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a fuel storage tank at the Zawiya oil depot, west of Tripoli, Libya, 11 August 2026. (EPA)
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Repeated Drone Attacks Threaten Libya’s Oil Production

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a fuel storage tank at the Zawiya oil depot, west of Tripoli, Libya, 11 August 2026. (EPA)
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a fuel storage tank at the Zawiya oil depot, west of Tripoli, Libya, 11 August 2026. (EPA)

Libya’s oil sector is facing mounting security concerns after repeated drone attacks set facilities ablaze in Zawiya, 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Tripoli, targeting infrastructure vital to the country’s energy industry.

Experts have described the attacks as a serious threat to the sector, warning that further strikes could prompt the National Oil Corporation (NOC) to declare force majeure and suspend operations at the Zawiya refinery. Calls are growing for urgent measures to protect oil installations.

As of Tuesday afternoon, teams from authorities were still battling a fire at the refinery, cooling the site and securing nearby tanks and facilities to prevent the flames from spreading.

The attacks present a new security challenge for Libya’s oil industry as drones increasingly target facilities directly linked to storage, refining and distribution, putting operations at risk.

Mohammed al-Bakoush, director of the emergency and crisis management department at the National Safety Authority, told Asharq Al-Awsat that “drone chaos and armed groups” had contributed to deteriorating security around the strategically important refinery.

He said conditions had improved Tuesday morning after additional emergency teams and equipment arrived from several areas, though firefighting and cooling operations were continuing.

Among the sites targeted was the Zawiya Oil Refining Company’s lubricants blending and packaging plant, where a drone fell near the main oil tank and a pipeline network used to produce lubricants for the domestic market.

A gasoline storage tank belonging to Brega Oil Marketing Company was also directly hit. The tank contained about 4.5 million liters of gasoline, triggering a major fire that caused it to collapse completely.

On Saturday, a tank at the Zawiya refinery was struck, damaging its wall and leaving two holes that caused some of the stored product to leak, though no fire erupted.

Brega spokesman Ahmed al-Maslati told Asharq Al-Awsat that fuel distribution had been partially disrupted by the situation at the refinery, forcing the company to shift distribution operations to the Tripoli oil depot.

He called for decisive action to end the drone attacks threatening Libya’s oil production and fuel distribution.

No casualties have been reported in the attacks, according to available official statements. However, the NOC has warned that continued strikes could force it to declare force majeure and shut down the refinery entirely.

Oil expert Najwa al-Beshti said such a declaration in Zawiya would have immediate repercussions for Libya’s oil production and exports. It could halt the refining of 100,000 barrels per day from the Sharara field and stop exports of around 200,000 barrels of crude through Zawiya port.

That would deprive the country of more than 20 percent of its oil output, posing a serious threat to an economy heavily dependent on petroleum revenues, she told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Libya produces around 1.4 million barrels of crude per day, according to official figures, while the NOC aims to raise output to about 1.5 million bpd by the middle of next year.

The escalating attacks in Zawiya highlight the vulnerability of Libya’s oil infrastructure amid persistent insecurity and the proliferation of armed groups, making the sector’s protection increasingly dependent on the authorities’ ability to establish lasting security around critical facilities.

Arab World

RSF-Led Alliance Claims Capture of Strategic Sudanese City Near Ethiopian Border

Members of the RSF. (AP file)
Members of the RSF. (AP file)
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RSF-Led Alliance Claims Capture of Strategic Sudanese City Near Ethiopian Border

Members of the RSF. (AP file)
Members of the RSF. (AP file)

Sudan’s Tasis Alliance, of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), announced that its troops have seized the strategic city of Qeissan in the Blue Nile state, southeastern Sudan after fierce fighting with the army.

The development marks a new shift on a front that has seen intensifying combat for months. It comes weeks after government forces advanced in southern Blue Nile and recaptured the nearby border city of Kurmuk and other positions.

The Sudan Founding Alliance, known as Tasis, brings together the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti; the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu; other armed Darfuri groups; and political and civilian forces.

Tasis was formed after its members signed a political charter in Nairobi in February 2025. It later established a parallel authority called the Government of Peace and Unity, headed by Hemedti, with al-Hilu serving as deputy chairman of the presidential council. The army-aligned government in Port Sudan does not recognize the authority.

Tasis claims full control

In a statement Tuesday, Tasis forces announced they had taken “full control” of Qeissan, about 170 kilometers southeast of Blue Nile’s capital, Damazin, and seized all military positions inside the city, along with large quantities of weapons and equipment that were still being inventoried.

The alliance said it was pursuing retreating army units and inflicting losses in personnel and equipment, without providing figures.

The army had not confirmed or denied losing the city by the time of publication, while no independent estimates of casualties were available.

Field sources reported that fierce clashes were continuing in several areas of Qeissan and that the situation on the ground was changing rapidly.

Strategic importance

Qeissan is strategically important because of its location near the Ethiopian border and along an area that has become a battleground for control of key movement and supply routes.

Fighting on the Blue Nile front has intensified in recent months following joint military operations by the RSF and SPLM-N against the army.

Qeissan came under its first major drone attack of the new campaign on February 27. Between March and June, alliance forces repeatedly tried to advance toward the city and cut government supply lines but failed to capture it.

Control of southern Blue Nile has shifted several times in recent months. Tasis captured Kurmuk in March before the army launched counteroffensives in July, retaking the city and other positions and expanding its control near the Ethiopian border.

The claim of Qeissan’s capture follows recent army gains in North Kordofan, where government forces and their allies retook Bara, Umm Sayala and Jabra al-Sheikh from the RSF, reopening the Export Road linking El Obeid and Omdurman.

Qeissan has repeatedly changed hands during Sudan’s past conflicts. It had remained under army control since war broke out between the military and the RSF on April 15, 2023, with ground fighting largely bypassing the area during the first two years. This year, however, it has emerged as a key front between the army and the RSF-SPLM-N alliance.