Israel’s strikes on bridges over the Litani River are cutting off southern Lebanon from the rest of the country, with two people killed and six wounded in separate attacks on a building in Tyre district and a motorcycle in Majdal Selm.
The destruction of crossings including Arzi, Qasmiyeh and Qaqaiyat is severing roads linking Lebanon’s southern governorates with the north and has fueled warnings in Lebanon that Israel may be preparing for a ground incursion.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency said Israeli warplanes struck the Arzi bridge in Sidon and the side road next to the Qasmiyeh bridge, which had been hit a day earlier while journalists were nearby and escaped unharmed. The agency said Israeli shelling also hit two culverts in Qasmiyeh and Matariyeh in Tyre district, while airstrikes targeted Tayri in Bint Jbeil district, the River Road toward Zrariyeh, and a house in Jouaiya.
The agency said another Israeli strike hit Shahabiya in Tyre district, causing heavy damage in a residential neighborhood, and reported that a shell struck UNIFIL headquarters, damaging the site without causing injuries among the international force.
The independent Central News Agency said an Israeli strike on a motorcycle in Majdal Selm killed its rider and wounded two other people, who were taken to hospital. It added that Israeli warplanes also struck the Qaqaiyat bridge at dawn, destroying the crossing that links the Nabatieh area to Wadi Al-Hujayr and the Ghandouriyeh sector, and hit the Sidon-Tyre bridge in the Burj Rahhal area for the third time since yesterday.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that “the Litani River should be the border between us and Lebanon. Just as we control 55% of Gaza, we should do that in Lebanon.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the bombing of bridges as “preparation for a ground invasion.”
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the army to “immediately destroy all bridges over the Litani River in southern Lebanon and speed up the demolition of homes in the border area.”
Egypt condemned Israel’s escalation in Lebanon and its “deliberate, systematic targeting” of civilian facilities and infrastructure, including bridges linking Lebanese areas. In a statement, it called it a “flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a grave breach of the rules of international law and the UN Charter.”
In a statement today, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its support for Lebanon’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and called for “full compliance with all provisions and elements of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 without selectivity, in a way that ensures Lebanese state institutions, foremost among them the Lebanese army, can carry out their responsibilities, extend their sovereignty over all Lebanese territory, and place weapons under their exclusive authority.”
Egypt said “the deliberate destruction of infrastructure in Lebanon represents an overt Israeli policy of collective punishment” and was forcing the displacement of around 1 million Lebanese and the emptying of entire areas of their residents.
Aoun met Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at midday today to assess the situation, especially the continuing Israeli escalation, the bombing of bridges and the isolation of the Litani area from the rest of Lebanon.
The meeting also reviewed the government’s measures to care for displaced people, secure shelters and provide for their needs.
Meanwhile, four Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded in a security incident during a military operation in southern Lebanon, while another soldier sustained minor injuries when a drone crashed near a military site there.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the death toll from the Israeli assault since March 2 had reached 1,029 by Sunday, while the number of wounded had climbed to 2,786.
Lebanon has seen a military escalation since the start of March amid the confrontation between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other. Hezbollah joined the confrontation by firing rockets from southern Lebanon toward Israel in the early hours of March 2, the first such attack since the ceasefire was declared on November 27, 2024, prompting Israel to launch an intensive military campaign targeting Beirut, its southern suburbs and other areas.
