Israel Launches Strikes on Several Key bridges in Southern Lebanon.

On Sunday(March 22, 2026) , Israel launched strikes on several bridges in southern Lebanon including the main Qasmiyeh Bridge over the Litani River with the aim of cutting off Hezbollah supply routes from the north coming to the areas Israel will be pushing into. 

The strikes come as Israel continues limited ground operations in southern Lebanon, launched earlier this month, aimed at pushing Hezbollah away from the border following months of rocket fire across the border. 

The Litani River lies roughly 30 km north of the Israeli border and has long been a strategic line under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), which requires the area south of it to be free of armed groups other than the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers—something Israel says Hezbollah has repeatedly violated. That’s claim is proven by videos of Hezbollah fighters launching shoulder fired rockets into Northern Israeli border post that were circulating in social media around the time of the start of the operation into Gaza.

According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah uses these crossings over the Litani River (especially the Qasmiyeh Bridge) to transport fighters, weapons, rockets, and launchers southward. “The Hezbollah terrorist organization uses these crossings to transfer thousands of weapons, rockets and rocket launchers, which it uses to carry out terror attacks from the area south of the Litani River against IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” the IDF stated. The strikes are intended to disrupt what Israel describes as Hezbollah’s exploitation of civilian infrastructure for military resupply from northern Lebanon into the southern border zone.

Southern Lebanon has had an evacuation order in place as Israel has said they will be going forward with a planned invasion into southern Lebanon. The Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said that they ordered the IDF to speed up the destruction of houses and villages in southern Lebanon calling them “a threat to Israel”. Katz also said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the IDF to take out the bridges, and giving the order “to immediately destroy all the bridges over the Litani River that are used for terrorist activity” to “prevent Hezbollah terrorists and weapons from moving south”.Katz described the moves as part of a broader effort to accelerate home demolitions in ‘frontline villages’ using models from Gaza’s Beit Hanoun and Rafah, while warning Lebanon’s government that failure to disarm Hezbollah would lead to ‘damage to infrastructure and loss of territory.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strikes as a ‘dangerous escalation’ and ‘flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty,’ describing them as ‘a prelude to a ground invasion.’ Hezbollah has not issued an m statement on today’s bridge attacks, but the group has previously vowed to respond to any Israeli operations in the south.

The conflict between Israel and Lebanon has displaced more than one million people across Lebanon, around 20% of the population, with southern villages being the most affected. Aid groups warn that destroying key bridges could further isolate communities and hinder humanitarian access to those who cannot evacuate. 

The strikes have raised international concerns over further escalation, though no immediate response has come from any of the major powers, regional or beyond.