Israel’s military said on Monday (March 2, 2026) it struck a senior Hezbollah operative in Beirut, with the Defence Minister saying the Lebanese group’s chief Naim Qassem is “a marked target”. Also read | Iran-Israel conflict LIVE updates“A short while ago, the (Israeli military) precisely struck a senior Hezbollah terrorist in Beirut,” the military said. AFPTV showed smoke rising from the southern Beirut district of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of Hezbollah. “We haven’t expanded our presence on the ground inside Lebanon,” he told an online news briefing. Earlier, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, another Israeli military spokesperson, told reporters that all options remained on the table when asked about the prospects of a ground invasion of Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel.
