Hezbollah opens sustained fire on northern Israel as three IDF divisions advance through southern Lebanon

The Lebanon front intensified significantly on Day 18. Hezbollah maintained continuous rocket and drone fire on towns in northern Israel as the IDF pushed three full divisions deeper into southern Lebanon, establishing an expanding buffer zone. The IDF 36th Division opened a new targeted operation toward an additional objective, joining the 91st Galilee Regional Division in the eastern sector and the 146th Division deployed defensively to the west. The IDF said it carried out massive airstrikes and artillery shelling before each ground advance. Defense Minister Katz stated the operation could become indefinite — comparable in scope to the Gaza campaign. In Beirut, the IDF conducted pre-warned dawn airstrikes on three Dahiyeh locations — Kafaat, Haret Hreik, and Doha Aramoun — striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern suburbs. Lebanon charities warned of mass civilian displacement, with over one million people now displaced by the Israeli bombing campaign and blanket evacuation orders across southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.

Key facts

• •Three IDF divisions now deployed across southern Lebanon — 36th, 91st Galilee, 146th
• •IDF 36th Division opens new targeted operation expanding forward defense buffer zone
• •Hezbollah maintains continuous rocket and drone fire on northern Israeli towns
• •IDF dawn airstrikes hit three Dahiyeh locations in Beirut — Kafaat, Haret Hreik, Doha Aramoun
• •Defense Minister Katz: Lebanon operation comparable to Gaza war — indefinite occupation possible
• •Over 1 million people displaced in Lebanon by Israeli bombing and blanket evacuation orders