Israel strikes Hezbollah’s civilian as well as military wings in an attempt to crush the group

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes that struck a building housing Al-Manar channel studios in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, early on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File) 2026-03-21T04:05:07Z BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike on a health center in southern Lebanon instantly killed 12 medical workers, seriously wounded one and left four missing under the rubble for hours. The March 13 strike in the village of Burj Qalaouiyah, one of the single deadliest strikes in Lebanon since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, targeted a center run by Hezbollah’s health arm, the Islamic Health Society, which has so far lost 24 members over the past two weeks. Since the latest war began, Israel’s military has not only been targeting the group’s military assets but also its civilian institutions in an apparent attempt to weaken the Iran-backed group further and try to push its supporters away from it. Hezbollah is a political party as well as an armed group, and its health and social service institutions have helped strengthen its base of support over the years. In addition to health centers, Israel has destroyed more than a dozen branches of Hezbollah’s financial arm, al-Qard al-Hasan . Other strikes heavily damaged Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV headquarters and its Al-Nour radio stations. The strikes also have targeted the group’s Amana gas stations and discount shops known as Sajjad, where low-income people can buy highly subsidized products. On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed Mohammed Sherri, the head of political programs at Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, along with his wife. Israel has accused Hezbollah of using health facilities for military purposes and has said al-Qard al-Hasan — officially a charitable organization that provides interest-free loans — finances the group’s military activities. Lebanon’s Health Ministry denies the Israeli claims about Hezbollah’s health facilities being used for milit

原文链接: AP News