The Israeli military said it struck the Zrarieh Bridge spanning the Litani River early on Friday, asserting that the crossing was being used by Hezbollah fighters to move between northern and southern parts of Lebanon.

The military did not provide evidence for the claim.The strike appeared to be the first instance in the current conflict in which Israel publicly acknowledged targeting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Lebanon would face increasing consequences unless Hezbollah was disarmed.

“The Lebanese government will pay increasing costs through damage to infrastructure and loss of territory,” Katz told senior military officers during a briefing, according to a statement from his office.

Israeli troops have been pushing deeper into southern Lebanon as part of the military campaign, while air strikes have continued to hit districts in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Lebanese officials say the expanding conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

Lebanon’s interior minister said authorities were struggling to accommodate the influx of civilians seeking refuge in Beirut, where many displaced residents have gathered after fleeing combat zones in the south.

The minister said government resources were insufficient to manage the scale of displacement, with large numbers of people arriving in the capital in recent days.

Lebanese authorities estimate that around 800,000 people have been forced from their homes since the fighting intensified.

Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, said the Lebanese population had been drawn into a broader regional conflict.

Speaking about the humanitarian impact of the fighting, Guterres said the Lebanese people had been “dragged into” the war as hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah expanded.

The escalation in Lebanon is unfolding as the wider regional conflict continues to intensify, raising concerns among international officials about the growing humanitarian and security consequences across the Middle East.

The warning came from the office of U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, which said damage to energy and water infrastructure could intensify humanitarian risks as hostilities continue.

Speaking at a press briefing, U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the organization was increasingly alarmed by reports of attacks targeting oil infrastructure.

“We continue to raise the alarm over the humanitarian impact of escalating violence across parts of the Middle East, which is driving rising civilian casualties, damage to civilian infrastructure and growing displacement of people,” Dujarric said.

He added that strikes on oil facilities could have “serious environmental consequences” across the region, with potential immediate effects on air quality, access to safe drinking water and food supplies.

The concerns come after Ministry of Interior Bahrain reported on Sunday that an Iranian drone attack damaged a water desalination plant in Bahrain.

Desalination plants are critical infrastructure for Gulf states, supplying much of the region’s drinking water and supporting economic activity in countries with limited freshwater resources.

Dujarric said the United Nations was urging all parties involved in the conflict to take precautions to protect civilians and essential infrastructure.

“We reiterate again that all possible precautions must be taken to protect civilians from the impact of hostilities and to avoid damage to health facilities, schools, water systems and other essential infrastructure,” Dujarric said.

The warning follows a series of recent attacks on energy installations linked to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. Several oil facilities in Iran were targeted by Israeli strikes on Sunday, while Iran has also launched attacks on oil facilities elsewhere in the region.