Israel has launched a wave of air strikes across Lebanon, killing two people, in another near-daily violation of the November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Israeli attacks targeted areas in the eastern Bekaa Valley and several villages in south Lebanon, including Bouslaiya and Aita al-Shaab, the National News Agency (NNA) reported on Sunday.
A strike on a warehouse in Khirbet Selm in the Bint Jbeil district killed at least one person and injured another, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
The Israeli military said the attack targeted a Hezbollah “weapons manufacturing site”, without providing evidence.
NNA reported that another person was killed in a separate strike in Derdghaya, east of the southern coastal city of Tyre. Several Lebanese news outlets identified the victim as Mohammed al-Hussayni, a school teacher.
The attacks come amid fears of a major Israeli assault to disarm Hezbollah amid simmering regional tensions and possible strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran, the Lebanese group’s top ally.
The Lebanese government said earlier this month that it completed the stage of removing the group’s weapons south of the Litani River, 28km (17 miles) from the Israeli border.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to occupy five points within Lebanese territory.
The Israeli army has also levelled several villages along the borders and blocked their reconstruction, preventing their residents from returning.
In August of last year, the Lebanese government issued a decree tasking the army with formulating a plan to disarm Hezbollah. But the group has refused to give up its weapons north of Litani, arguing that its military force is necessary to resist Israeli attacks, occupation and expansionism.
Lebanese officials have vowed to push on with a multi-phased plan to disarm the group across the country. The next stage of disarmament will target the region between the Litani River and the Awali River, about 40 km (25 miles) to the north. Hezbollah has been severely weakened by Israel’s all-out assault against Lebanon in 2024, which killed most of the group’s top political and military leaders, including its chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Since the end of the war, Lebanon has been forced to accept a de facto one-sided ceasefire, where Israel attacks the country almost daily without any response from the Lebanese side. Hezbollah has been calling on the Lebanese government to intensify its diplomacy and press the sponsors of the ceasefire – the US and France – to pressure Israel to stop its violations.