By Maya Gebeily and Ahmed Tolba
BEIRUT, April 3 (Reuters) – Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes on Friday that the military said had targeted militant “infrastructure” in Lebanon’s capital, as the U.S. warned that Iran may target universities in the country as the Middle East war rages.
Israel has invaded southern Lebanon and pledged to raze all Lebanese villages in the border area in a fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants that has become the most violent spillover of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Israel also has frequently struck Beirut, particularly its Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs. Earlier on Friday, Israel’s military warned residents to leave seven neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs, warning of impending strikes.
Reuters reporters heard three loud blasts echoing across the city on Friday around sunset, a time when many Christians in the country were marking Good Friday despite the escalating hostilities.
Lebanese media outlets said the strikes had hit the southern suburbs. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Israel’s military said it was “striking terror infrastructure in Beirut”, without providing details.
US WARNS OF ATTACKS ON UNIVERSITIES
Israel has pledged to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River as part of a “security zone” it says is aimed at protecting its own northern residents.
More than a million people have fled the area as well as other parts of the country. Families fleeing Israeli strikes said they were exhausted by repeated rounds of conflict.
Israel launched its campaign after Hezbollah fired into Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran after the U.S. and Israel began joint strikes against Iran. The conflict has spread with Iranian strikes against Israel, U.S. bases and Gulf states.
This week, Iran warned it would retaliate against U.S. universities in the region after its universities were struck in attacks. Taking security precautions, the American University of Beirut moved classes online on Monday and Tuesday.
On Friday, the U.S. embassy in Beirut warned that “Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target universities in Lebanon”.
The embassy repeated a warning for U.S. citizens to leave the country.
UN PEACEKEEPERS INJURED
Some 1,368 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and about a fifth of Lebanon’s population has been displaced. Sources told Reuters last week that more than 400 Hezbollah fighters had been killed since March 2.
At least 10 Israeli troops have been killed in southern Lebanon in the same period, the Israeli military has said.
Tens of thousands of Lebanese have remained in their homes in southern Lebanon, even as Lebanese troops have withdrawn from the area to avoid confronting Israeli troops. Israel has issued evacuation orders covering around 15% of Lebanese territory.
They include around 9,000 Lebanese Christians living in a cluster of border towns, who told Reuters they were determined to stay despite the advancing military operations.
Also on Friday, three peacekeepers with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon were injured, two seriously, in an explosion inside a U.N. position in south Lebanon near the border, UNIFIL’s spokesperson said, without blaming any party.
Israel’s military said the explosion was caused by Hezbollah rocket fire from an area north of the UNIFIL position, near Al-Aadaissah along the border. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or authorities in Lebanon.
Three UNIFIL peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed earlier this week. The U.N. has not said which party was responsible. In early March, Israeli tank fire wounded three Ghanaian peacekeepers with UNIFIL. Israel voiced regret over that incident.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo;Writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and David Gregorio)
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