Israel Launches Massive Lebanon Strikes Hours After Iran Ceasefire, Killing Hundreds

Hours after Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a U.S.-Iran ceasefire that Pakistani mediators said explicitly covered Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces launched "Operation Eternal Darkness," sending 50 fighter jets to strike more than 100 Hezbollah command centers and military sites across the country in just 10 minutes. The April 8 assault deployed approximately 160 munitions against targets in central and southern Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The strikes killed at least 254 people and wounded more than 1,000 others, making April 8 the deadliest single day in the Israel-Hezbollah war. Lebanon's Health Ministry confirmed at least 182 dead. In Beirut alone, 92 people were killed and 742 were injured as Israeli jets hit dense commercial and residential areas without warning. Hospitals were flooded and emergency services were overwhelmed, with the Health Ministry calling on residents to clear roads for ambulances.

Among the most harrowing episodes, an Israeli airstrike struck a cemetery in the Bekaa Valley village of Shmestar during an ongoing funeral, killing at least 10 mourners and wounding four others.

The assault immediately fractured the ceasefire before it could take hold. Pakistani mediators had explicitly stated Lebanon was covered under the two-week deal halting the broader 2026 Iran conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contradicted that claim directly, calling Lebanon a "separate skirmish." U.S. Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that Israel had offered to restrain its Lebanon strikes during the U.S.-Iran negotiations, but added that if Iran withdrew from the ceasefire over Lebanon, "that would be dumb but that's their choice."

Iran signaled it was weighing exactly that option. State-linked Tasnim news agency, citing a well-informed source, warned that "Iran will withdraw from the agreement if Israel continues to violate the ceasefire in its attack on Lebanon." Tehran also threatened to "completely" close the Strait of Hormuz and strike energy and desalination infrastructure across the region, including facilities critical for drinking water supplies.

Hezbollah launched missile strikes at Israel in response, asserting it had a "right" to retaliate and warning that "this response will continue until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people ceases." The group stated it would not accept a return to the pre-March 2 status quo.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli attacks as "barbaric." The UN Security Council convened an emergency session, and Secretary-General António Guterres's personal envoy traveled to Iran for talks on next steps. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the Iran ceasefire but stressed that "negotiations for an enduring solution" were still urgently needed.

The April 8 strikes came five weeks after the 2026 Lebanon war formally began on March 2, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Since that date, Israeli forces have conducted more than 1,840 attacks on Lebanon, killing more than 1,497 people and injuring over 4,639, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project. UN figures place the death toll at more than 1,500, including 130 children. By late March, more than 1.2 million people, roughly 22 percent of Lebanon's entire population, had been displaced, many for the second time in recent months.