BEIRUT: Israel launched several strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon on Thursday, Lebanese state media reported, as the Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure including a military compound. Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five southern areas it deems strategic. &lsquo;Several strikes&rsquo;&nbsp;Lebanon&#39;s state-run National News Agency reported&nbsp;several strikes on mountainous areas in the south and east. The Israeli military claimed it targeted &ldquo;terror infrastructure sites in multiple areas across Lebanon&rdquo; including &ldquo;a military compound used by Hezbollah to conduct training and courses&rdquo; for the group&#39;s members. In another statement, the military also said: &ldquo;A short while ago, the IDF struck a Hezbollah terrorist in the area of Taybeh in southern Lebanon.&rdquo; Monitoring committee meeting&nbsp;The attacks come as the ceasefire monitoring committee, which includes the United States and France, are set to meet on Friday. On Tuesday, two people were killed in Israeli strikes, one of them 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Beirut. Around 340 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement went into force, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.

Middle East

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported several strikes on mountainous areas in the south and east; attacks come as the ceasefire monitoring committee, which includes the United States and France, are set to meet on Friday. 

Israel launches series of strikes on Lebanon

JBAA:&nbsp;Israeli raids hit south Lebanon on Thursday as its military said it was striking Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, a day after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades. Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic. The visit from Sunday to Tuesday of Pope Leo XIV had provided Lebanon with a window of reprieve from Israeli air strikes, which had intensified in recent weeks, and the pontiff urged an end to hostilities during his visit. But on Thursday, the Israeli army said it &quot;began conducting strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon,&quot; after warning it would strike buildings in south Lebanon&#39;s Mahrouna and Jbaa. It subsequently issued warnings that it would strike further Hezbollah &quot;military infrastructure&quot; in Majadal and Baraasheet, also in the south. Lebanon&#39;s official National News Agency said &quot;Israeli warplanes launched a strike on the town of Mahrouna&quot; while other raids targeted buildings in Jbaa, Majadal, and Baraasheet. An AFP photographer saw smoke rising from the site of the strike in the town of Jbaa. &#39;Living in shock&#39;&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s a completely civilian area. We&#39;re used to Israeli threats from time to time,&quot; local official Yassir Madi told journalists, including AFP. &quot;As for the damage, there&#39;s not a window within 300 metres that didn&#39;t break. Everyone is living in shock,&quot; he added. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it struck &quot;weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah&quot; located in the &quot;heart of the civilian population&quot;. &quot;This is yet another example of Hezbollah&#39;s cynical use of Lebanese civilians as human shields, and continued operations from within civilian areas,&quot; it said. Lebanon&#39;s government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, but the group has rejected the idea, and many in the country fear a return to expanded Israeli military operations. Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held surprise talks on Wednesday under the auspices of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism at the UN peacekeeping force&#39;s headquarters in Lebanon&#39;s Naqura near the border with Israel. Representatives of the ceasefire monitoring committee &mdash; the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel, and the UN force &mdash; regularly convene in Naqura. On Thursday, Lebanon&#39;s President Joseph Aoun said another round of talks with Israel will begin on December 19. Information Minister Paul Morcos quoted Aoun as calling the initial negotiations &quot;positive&quot; and stressing &quot;the need for the language of negotiation &mdash; not the language of war &mdash; to prevail.&quot; Lebanon and Israel have technically been at war since 1948, and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam cautioned that the new diplomatic contact did not amount to broader peace discussions. The United States has been piling pressure on Lebanon to rapidly disarm Hezbollah, and has pushed for direct talks between the two neighbors. Limited discussions&nbsp;Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s office said the atmosphere at the talks was &quot;positive,&quot; and that there had been agreement &quot;to develop ideas to promote potential economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.&quot; Israel also made it clear it was &quot;essential&quot; that Lebanese group Hezbollah disarm regardless of any progress in economic cooperation, the premier&#39;s office added. Salam said the new discussions were strictly limited to fully implementing last year&#39;s truce. &quot;We are not yet at peace talks,&quot; he told journalists, including AFP, on Wednesday. He said the talks only sought &quot;the cessation of hostilities,&quot; the &quot;release of Lebanese hostages,&quot; and &quot;the complete Israeli withdrawal&quot; from Lebanon. A spokesperson for the French foreign ministry, meanwhile, said France &quot;welcomes the holding of these discussions&quot; that allow &quot;all parties to come to the table.&quot; &quot;We are fully committed to ensuring that this mechanism remains the framework to promote de-escalation and enable a lasting return to stability in the region,&quot; he said. Until now, Israel and Lebanon, which have no formal diplomatic relations, have insisted on limiting participation in the ceasefire mechanism to military officers. The US embassy in Beirut said US envoy Morgan Ortagus also attended. Ortagus was in Jerusalem a day earlier and met with Netanyahu and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Lebanon's government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, but the group has rejected the idea, and many in the country fear a return to expanded Israeli military operations.


Israel launches fresh strikes on south Lebanon 

BEIRUT:&nbsp;An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed one person on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, in the latest attack on the area despite a nearly year-long ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. In a statement, the ministry said that &ldquo;an Israeli enemy strike&rdquo; on a vehicle in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, south Lebanon, killed one person. The ministry also said that a grenade launched by an Israeli drone in the southern town of Shaqra wounded five people. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incidents. Israeli strike kills man&nbsp;Lebanon&rsquo;s state-run National News Agency identified the killed man as Kamel Reda Qarnabash, saying he was driving his vehicle in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah when the strike hit. The Israeli army said earlier on Saturday that it killed a Hezbollah member in a strike the day before on Froun, southern Lebanon. &ldquo;In a targeted strike the (Israeli army) eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist in the Froun area in southern Lebanon&rdquo; on Friday, the military said in a statement. It alleged the Hezbollah member had &ldquo;advanced terror attacks against the State of Israel&rdquo; and its forces. The Lebanese health ministry said on Friday that an &ldquo;Israeli enemy strike&rdquo; on a vehicle in Froun killed one person. Ceasefire violation&nbsp;Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024 -- which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah -- by continuing its strikes and maintaining forces inside its territory. Israel has said Hezbollah is working to rebuild its military capabilities, accusing the group of breaking the ceasefire terms. According to the health ministry, more than 330 people have been killed in Lebanon and 945 wounded since the ceasefire. An Israeli strike Tuesday night on the Ain al-Hilweh camp for Palestinian refugees in southern Lebanon killed 13 people. On Friday, Israel said it had targeted &ldquo;terrorists&rdquo; from the Palestinian group Hamas, allied with Hezbollah, in the strike on the camp, located on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon. Two students killed&nbsp;Israel&rsquo;s military &quot;is operating against Hamas&#39;s establishment in Lebanon, and will continue to operate against Hamas terrorists wherever they operate&quot;, it said in Friday&#39;s statement. A secondary school in the camp said in a statement on its Facebook page on Thursday that two of its students were killed, publishing an image of two adolescent boys. The United States has sought to exert pressure on the Lebanese government to make Hezbollah hand over its weapons, which the group has so far refused to do.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency identified the killed man as Kamel Reda Qarnabash; according to the health ministry, more than 330 people have been killed in Lebanon and 945 wounded since the ceasefire.

Lebanon says fresh Israeli strike on south kills one

JERUSALEM: Israel&#39;s military on Wednesday warned people in two villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately ahead of incoming strikes on what it said was Hezbollah military infrastructure. &quot;You are located near buildings used by Hezbollah. For your own safety, you must evacuate them immediately and move away from the area,&quot; the Israeli military&#39;s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a series of posts on X.

Europe

Israel warns people in two Lebanese villages to evacuate ahead of strikes

TEHRAN: Iran on Friday condemned strikes by Israel on southern Lebanon. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the strikes were a &quot;blatant violation of Lebanon&#39;s sovereignty and territorial integrity,&quot; in a statement. Lebanon said on Thursday that Israel had killed one person and wounded seven, while the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah and allied groups. &lsquo;Breach of ceasefire&rsquo;&nbsp;Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the attacks had struck civilian facilities and denounced what he described as a breach of a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel negotiated last year. Tehran was also hit by Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities during a 12-day war with Israel this year. Hezbollah and Israel agreed a truce in November, after more than a year of hostilities that culminated in two months of open war. Israel has nevertheless repeatedly bombed Lebanese territory. Baqaei also accused France and the United States -- who are guarantors of the truce -- of &quot;continued inaction and appeasement&quot; toward Israel over what he called the &quot;repeated violation&quot; of the agreement.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the strikes were a "blatant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity"; Lebanon said on Thursday that Israel had killed one person and wounded seven.

Iran slams Israeli strikes in Lebanon as 'ceasefire violation'

Web Desk

BEIRUT: Lebanon&#39;s Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli strikes in the south had killed one person and wounded seven, while the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah and its allies. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, however, insisted Israel&#39;s strikes targeted &ldquo;civilian facilities,&rdquo; condemning what he said was a breach of a ceasefire negotiated last year. &ldquo;The repeated Israeli aggression comes as part of a systematic policy aimed at destroying productive infrastructure, hindering economic recovery, and undermining national stability under false security pretexts,&rdquo; Aoun said. Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire, which followed more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed militant group that culminated in two months of open war. The Lebanese Health Ministry, which earlier said six people had been wounded, said one person was killed in a strike in the eastern town of Shmistar. One person was wounded in Bnaafoul, in the Saida district, and six in Ansar, in the Nabatieh district, it added. An Israeli army statement said it had &ldquo;struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure ... in the Mazraat Sinai area in southern Lebanon.&rdquo; It also said it had struck facilities used by Green Without Borders, an NGO under U.S. sanctions that Israel considers to have &ldquo;operated under a civilian cover to conceal the presence of Hezbollah in the border area with Israel.&rdquo;

A firefighter douses flames at a cement factory after Israeli airstrikes in Ansar, near Doueir, southern Lebanon, on Oct. 16, 2025. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the strikes killed one person and wounded seven. (AP Photo/Name)

Lebanon's Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli strikes in the south had killed one person and wounded seven, while the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah and its allies.

Articles tagged with "Lebanon"

Israel launches series of strikes on Lebanon

Israel launches fresh strikes on south Lebanon

Lebanon says fresh Israeli strike on south kills one

Israel warns people in two Lebanese villages to evacuate ahead of strikes

Iran slams Israeli strikes in Lebanon as 'ceasefire violation'

Lebanon says Israeli strikes kill one and wound seven

Israel launches series of strikes on Lebanon