IDF strikes Beirut Bashoura neighbourhood — Hezbollah facility targeted, evacuation warning issued before strike

An Israeli airstrike struck Beirut Bashoura neighbourhood in the early morning hours of March 18, with Reuters and AFP witnesses on the ground confirming a loud explosion in the area. The strike came after the IDF issued an evacuation warning through its Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee, who called on residents of a specific building in the central Beirut neighbourhood to evacuate ahead of an operation targeting a Hezbollah facility. Bashoura (also spelled Bachoura) sits in central-west Beirut, adjacent to the commercial Hamra district and close to several foreign diplomatic missions. The neighbourhood has been targeted multiple times this month as Israel pursues Hezbollah infrastructure embedded in civilian areas of the Lebanese capital. The strike marks the third IDF operation in central Beirut on Day 19 — following the earlier Zuqaq al-Blat strike (without warning) and the Tyre evacuation warning. Israel assault on Lebanon has killed at least 912 people, including 111 children, and wounded more than 2,200 others, per Lebanon health ministry cumulative figures. Over a million people have been displaced.