On April 8, 2026 at 2:15 p.m. local time, Israel launched a massive wave of strikes against Lebanon – just hours after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran to suspend fighting in the Gulf region.
Israel said it struck 100 targets in 10 minutes, dashing hopes in Lebanon that a pause in fighting in Iran would also end the violence.
The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah – the Lebanese militia and political party financed and armed by Iran – began on March 2 after the group fired rockets into Israel, which responded with widespread airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
Since then, more than 2,600 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, and about a fifth of the population has been displaced, according to the UN.
The BBC’s Nawal Al-Maghafi pieced together what happened that day and met people who lost loved ones in one of the deadliest chapters in the country’s recent history.