BEIRUT, March 13 — Israel warned Lebanon on Friday that it would face further damage to its infrastructure until Iran-backed Hezbollah is disarmed, after the Israeli military destroyed a bridge in south Lebanon in what appeared to be the first such strike of the war.

As Israeli troops push further into southern Lebanon and pound Beirut’s suburbs with air strikes, Lebanon’s interior minister said authorities were unable to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people who have sought refuge in the capital.

Israel launched its offensive against Hezbollah after it opened fire on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli strikes have killed nearly 700 people and uprooted 800,000 more, according to Lebanese authorities.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, arrived in Lebanon on Friday, saying its people “did not choose this war. They were dragged into it.”

Israel says Lebanon will ‘pay increasing costs’

Israel’s military said it struck the Zrarieh Bridge spanning the Litani River early on Friday, claiming it was being used by Hezbollah militants to move between Lebanon’s north and south. The military provided no evidence for the claim.

It appeared to be the first time Israel had acknowledged attacking civilian infrastructure during its current military campaign in Lebanon.

“The Lebanese government... will pay increasing costs through damage to infrastructure and loss of territory” until Hezbollah is disarmed, Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a meeting with senior military officers, according to his office.

“This is only the beginning,” Katz said.

Katz’s suggestion that Israel could occupy parts of Lebanon is likely to cause international alarm, including from many of Israel’s closest partners, who have long warned that Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be preserved.

International law generally prohibits militaries from attacking civilian infrastructure, though it can be permitted in some instances if it is being used for military purposes.

Lebanon’s government has sought to disarm Hezbollah, and the country’s army had said before the war that progress had been made in areas near the Israeli border. On March 2, the Lebanese government banned military activities by Hezbollah, which has refused to fully disarm.

Israel says that Hezbollah’s military capabilities have been degraded since a 2024 war but that it still poses a formidable threat and possesses hundreds of rockets.

Not enough shelters for displaced people

Lebanon’s state media reported on Friday that a drone struck a residential apartment in Beirut’s Bourj Hammoud district on the northern outskirts of the Lebanese capital. It was the first time in the war that Beirut’s predominantly Christian northern suburbs have been hit as Israel appeared to widen its targeting.

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar said the country had opened as many shelters as possible in Beirut for internally displaced Lebanese, many of whom have been sleeping on streets or in parks.

“No matter how many shelters are opened in Beirut, they cannot accommodate all the displaced,” Al-Hajjar told a press conference.

As Israeli strikes widened, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Friday said that non-essential diplomats in Lebanon had been directed to leave, a day after a similar announcement for Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

In a late-night press conference on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep hitting Lebanon. His defence minister, Israel Katz, earlier on Thursday said the military was preparing to expand its operations in Lebanon.

The military has sent additional ground forces into Lebanon over the past week, carrying out raids on Lebanese villages near the border with Israel in what it describes as defensive maneuvers to protect civilians in Israel’s north from attacks.

On Wednesday night, Hezbollah launched 200 rockets at northern Israeli communities. — Reuters