Israeli forces struck a building in Choueifat, a suburb of Beirut, on May 28 — the first attack near the Lebanese capital in weeks, and what the BBC described as the second strike on Beirut's suburbs since the April ceasefire began [3] — in what the Israeli military described as a "precise attack" without providing further details [10][9]. Reuters, citing Israeli security circles, reported the target was Ali al-Husseini, head of the rocket division of the Imam Hussein Division, a group allied with Hezbollah and Iran [10]. Israeli officials separately stated the army had refrained from striking Beirut for three weeks at the request of the US government [10]. The geographic expansion came as UNIFIL recorded approximately 670 projectile trajectories in a single day, the highest since the cessation of hostilities took effect on April 17 [11][2].
The Beirut strike drew immediate accounts of civilian harm. A resident of Dahieh identified only as Mohamad told the BBC he found a three-month-old baby in the rubble and said, "There's nothing here! Everything happening here — all this pressure on people — is just to make us hate Hezbollah, but that's not going to happen" [3]. RT's correspondent on the scene described the attack as "very precise" but noted residents received "no warning" [9]. Across southern Lebanon, a family of six — including two children and their parents — was killed in an airstrike near Adloun on the highway south of Sidon, and two Syrian nationals died in a drone strike on a motorcycle near Tyre [16][2]. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported the overall death toll since March 2 has surpassed 3,269, with more than 9,800 injured [9].
Israel framed the widening campaign as a necessary response to an escalating drone threat. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah's increased use of explosive drones "requires of us now to increase the blows, to increase the intensity. We will smite them hip and thigh" [4]. The BBC reported that fibre-optic guided drones, a tactic Hezbollah adapted from the Ukraine conflict, have killed eight of the eleven Israeli soldiers and one civilian contractor lost since the ceasefire [12]. Captain Adi Stoler, an Israeli military spokesperson, said Hezbollah's "goal is to harm as many lives as possible" and that when soldiers find ways to protect themselves, the group shifts to targeting civilians [12]. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich went further, stating that for every drone that harms an Israeli soldier, Israeli forces should "bring down 100 buildings" in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold [12]. Residents of the northern Israeli village of Shomera described living in constant fear; council chief Sami Zanetti said, "The problem is you don't feel them coming. You're sitting there, and suddenly it arrives" [12].
Humanitarian agencies painted a dire picture of the toll on Lebanese civilians. The UN children's agency reported that an average of 11 children have been killed or injured every 24 hours in Lebanon over the past week [13]. Kelly Petillo of the European Council on Foreign Relations said, "Lebanon is in a state of panic. Thirty-one people were killed on the eve of this week's Eid holiday" [4]. DW reported that 1.24 million people face acute food insecurity, while funding shortages are forcing aid groups to scale back services [4]. Suzanne Takkenberg, regional director for Action Against Hunger, warned that the cessation of all water services to Syrian refugees as of June 1 creates "enormous" risks of waterborne disease outbreaks including cholera and typhoid [4]. Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salamé said, "Des bombardements sont tombés tout près des ruines de Tyr" (Bombings fell very close to the ruins of Tyre), adding that Beaufort Castle was "directly hit" [8][13]. An Israeli airstrike in Tyre also targeted a medical centre, according to Middle East Eye [17].
The escalation unfolded against the backdrop of parallel diplomatic tracks. The US State Department announced on May 15 that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend their ceasefire by 45 days, with a security track involving military delegations set to begin at the Pentagon on May 29 [32]. RFI reported that the Washington talks centred on a US-backed proposal for the Lebanese army to create a unit dedicated to disarming Hezbollah — an idea that faces deep resistance inside Lebanon, where dividing the army is seen as perilous and confronting Hezbollah as "suicide" [15]. Hezbollah and the Amal movement rejected the idea of direct negotiations with Israel [15]. Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned, "The people have the right to go down onto the streets and to bring down the government" if disarmament is pursued by force [4]. Analyst Sami Halabi of The Alternative Policy Institute said Hezbollah is "floating the idea of taking down the government through popular revolt" and warned that forced disarmament would "almost certainly lead to civil strife" [4].
Lebanon's government sought to position itself as the legitimate interlocutor. President Joseph Aoun stated that "the liberation of the south is a duty borne by the state with the support of its people" and that permanent peace and a complete Israeli withdrawal are non-negotiable [4]. The Lebanese military delegation affirmed its commitment to the ceasefire and rejected violations of sovereignty [23]. Lebanese officials described the strikes as a breach of the truce and called on the international community to pressure Israel [24]. Monte Carlo Doualiya analysed the escalation as an Israeli attempt to improve its negotiating position ahead of the Washington talks [25].
Conflict analysts warned of a self-reinforcing cycle. David Wood, senior analyst for Lebanon at the International Crisis Group, said, "Israel and Hezbollah have entered a very dangerous escalatory cycle. If the situation continues along this path, it could have disastrous consequences for Lebanon" [4]. Sarit Zehavi of the Alma Research Center said Hezbollah intensified cross-border attacks on what she described as "a direct order from Iran, against the background of what is happening with the [US] deal" [12]. Turkish outlet Hürriyet framed the strikes as Tel Aviv's attempt to sabotage the US-Iran peace process, noting that halting attacks on Lebanon is among Tehran's conditions for a deal [6]. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson condemned the strikes as "brutal" and "heinous" and emphasised direct US responsibility, calling them a violation of the Iran-US ceasefire understanding [27]. US Vice President J.D. Vance said the US and Iran are close to an agreement but "not there yet," adding, "I can't guarantee that we're going to get there, but right now I feel pretty good about it" [13].
The economic toll compounds Lebanon's pre-existing financial collapse. The World Bank estimated reconstruction needs at $11 billion as of March 2025 [31]. Lebanon's finance minister put war-related losses for 2026 at $3 billion, with expectations the figure will rise as attacks and displacement continue [31]. Folha de S.Paulo reported over 1.2 million internally displaced people across the country [30].
Security negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese military delegations were scheduled to open at the Pentagon on May 29, even as strikes continued across southern Lebanon and Beirut's suburbs [32][8].