The Israel Defense Forces launched retaliatory strikes on Beirut early March 2 after Hezbollah said it fired rockets and drones at a military base near Haifa in northern Israel. Hezbollah said the attack was in response to the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and framed it as defending Lebanon against continued Israeli aggression, while Israel accused the group of acting on behalf of Iran and targeting civilians. The IDF said it would strike Hezbollah targets across Lebanon and issued evacuation orders for more than 50 towns in the country’s south as smoke rose over Beirut’s southern suburbs.The New York Post is your source for breaking news, news about New York, sports, business, entertainment, opinion, real estate, culture, fashion, and more.Check out our three new podcasts:NYNext (week): https://www.youtube.com/@nynext1Pod Force One with MIranda Devine (weekly): https://www.youtube.com/@PodForce1NY POSTcast (daily): https://www.youtube.com/@NYPOSTcast#hezbollah #beirut #lebanon #idf Get The Post’s latest headlines everyday with our Morning Report newsletter:https://tinyurl.com/NYPOSTSIGNUPCatch the latest news at http://www.nypost.com.Follow The New York Post on:Twitter - https://twitter.com/nypostFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/NYPost