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.

Fresh Israeli strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs and south Lebanon on Tuesday after the Israeli army warned people to evacuate, with Lebanese authorities saying nearly 760,000 people had been registered as displaced.

As Hezbollah enters a new round of fighting with Israel just 15 months after the last Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a November 2024 U.S.-brokered ceasefire, the Iran-backed militant group and political party is facing increasing grassroots discontent within its base and problems with the Lebanese authorities.

Nearly 700,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon after Israel’s bombing campaign against Hezbollah, the United Nations has said.

A humanitarian crisis is looming in Lebanon where more than 750,000 people have been displaced in the 12 days since the U.S. and Israel began their war with Iran and its proxies in the Middle East, figures released by the Lebanese government show.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on infrastructure and sites it says belong to Hezbollah, while the group responded by launching long-range missiles targeting Israeli military positions.

Families in southern Lebanon flee Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah and have taken shelter in Beirut stadiums and schools, as the effects of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran are felt across the region.

Mass evacuation orders and an intensifying Israeli bombing campaign targeting the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah have caused a humanitarian crisis, aid groups warn.

Helou describes her country as half the size of New Jersey. As she traveled, she was surprised by some of the influences she found. “In the south,” she writes, “I discovered dishes that were closer to those of Palestine than those of Mount Lebanon.