Lebanese hospitals struggled to manage hundreds of casualties Wednesday after the Israeli military bombed approximately 100 targets across the country in a ten-minute window, the health ministry and Israeli military officials said.
The strikes—the largest coordinated aerial assault since the conflict began—leave Lebanon’s healthcare infrastructure on the brink of collapse just as a US-brokered ceasefire in the wider Iran conflict appears set to exclude Beirut. While the Israeli Prime Minister backed a two-week truce with Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, officials confirmed the deal does not cover operations against Hezbollah.
Health Minister Firass Abiad said hospitals are “overflowing” with the dead and wounded, and Elias Shallala, head of the Beirut Medical Syndicate, issued an emergency appeal for all physicians to report to hospitals to assist with the influx of injuries
The Arabic-language spokesperson for the occupation army, Avichay Adraee, wrote on X: “The army recently completed a widespread strike targeting military headquarters and infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah organization across Beirut, the Bekaa, and southern Lebanon. This strike is the largest targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure since the start of Operation Roaring Lion.”
He claimed the strike targeted “headquarters, command and control centers, and military systems belonging to Hezbollah, intelligence headquarters, and central bodies used by Hezbollah elements to direct and plan terrorist plans against the Israel Defense Forces and the citizens of the State of Israel.”
“The strike was based on precise intelligence information and was carefully planned over many weeks by the Operations Directorate, the Intelligence Directorate, the Air Force, and the Northern Command, with the aim of intensifying the strike being directed at Hezbollah,” he said.
Chief of Staff of the occupation army, Eyal Zamir, said, “We will exploit every opportunity; we will not compromise on the security of the residents of the north; we will continue the raids without stopping.”
Destruction left by Israeli raids on Beirut, April 8, 2026The official Lebanese News Agency said that Beirut is “in a state of shock, panic, and confusion” as Civil Defense and Red Cross vehicles worked to retrieve dead and wounded civilians. The independent Lebanese Central News Agency reported appeals to secure blood units for hospitals and open roads for ambulances and Civil Defense.
As of Tuesday evening, the death toll from the Israeli war on Lebanon reached 1,530, with 4,812 wounded since March 2, according to the Ministry of Public Health
Cars on fire following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a residential building in Beirut, April 8, 2026Hezbollah had not issued any comment by the time of publication, but Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli attacks as “barbaric” and disregarding “rights and agreements.”
He accused Israel of committing a new massacre in defiance of human values. “The continuation of these aggressive policies will only lead to more tension and instability,” Aoun warned, calling on the international community to halt the repeated attacks.
