Israel launches another round of intense airstrikes in Lebanon

Israel launched multiple airstrikes across southern and northeastern Lebanon on Thursday, intensifying tensions along the border as a deadline approaches for dismantling Hezbollah’s armed presence in the area.

The attacks came on the eve of a scheduled meeting of an international committee tasked with overseeing a US-brokered ceasefire that brought an end to the most recent Israel-Hezbollah war roughly a year ago. This will be only the second gathering of the mechanism since Israel and Lebanon added civilian representatives to what had previously been a military-focused forum. The monitoring group also includes officials from the United States, France and the UN peacekeeping mission deployed in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said its warplanes struck Hezbollah-related facilities , including launch positions, training compounds and weapons storage sites. According to Israel, the targeted locations were being used recently by Hezbollah fighters for operational activities.

In Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported that the airstrikes were widespread, hitting areas from Mount Rihan in the south to the Hermel region in the northeast, close to the Syrian border. The agency also said a drone strike later hit a vehicle near the southern town of Taybeh , causing casualties. Although Beirut did not issue a formal government statement confirming the strikes, Lebanese state media detailed the attacks and senior officials publicly reacted to them.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri framed the strikes as a calculated signal, saying they were intended as a message ahead of high-level discussions in Paris. Speaking in parliament, he described the air campaign as timed to coincide with international talks aimed at strengthening the role of the Lebanese army in the south.

Those talks include a meeting in Paris between Lebanon’s army commander, Gen. Rodolph Haikal , and officials from the United States , France and Saudi Arabia . The discussions are expected to focus on boosting the Lebanese army’s deployment along the border, where the government has pledged to remove all armed Hezbollah elements south of the Litani River by the end of the year.

The latest Israeli strikes have once again drawn attention to the ceasefire agreement that remains formally in place between Israel and Hezbollah. While the truce was designed to halt hostilities and stabilize the frontier under international supervision, repeated military actions have highlighted its fragile nature and raised doubts about its durability.

The current phase of fighting traces back to October 8, 2023 , when Hezbollah began launching rockets into Israel a day after Hamas’s attack on southern Israel. Israel responded with escalating airstrikes, culminating in a large-scale bombardment of Lebanon in September last year, followed by a ground operation that significantly weakened Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.

Despite the ceasefire, Israeli air operations have continued almost daily . The UN human rights office has reported that at least 127 civilians have been killed during these strikes. In parallel, Washington has stepped up pressure on Lebanese authorities in recent weeks to move faster on disarming Hezbollah, a demand that remains deeply contentious within Lebanon’s complex political landscape.