Israel Lebanon “low level” war

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The Israeli Air Force launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Saturday afternoon, and separately said it killed two members of the terror group in drone strikes in the country’s south

The strikes came despite a nearly year-long ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.

The Israel Defense Forces said that its airstrikes in southern Lebanon hit several rocket launchers that were recently identified as being placed at Hezbollah military sites.

In the eastern Beqaa Valley, the military said the IAF bombed two Hezbollah military sites where it had identified activities by terror operatives, as well as weapon depots.

The IDF said the “presence of the launchers and the military activity at these sites constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Separately, the IDF confirmed killing two Hezbollah operatives in drone strikes in southern Lebanon.

Since the start of the November 2024 ceasefire, the IDF has killed more than 330 Hezbollah operatives in strikes, including 20 in the past month alone, according to the military.

Israel says the operatives were violating the terms of the truce, which allows the IDF to respond to immediate threats.

An Israeli strike Tuesday night on the Ain al-Hilweh camp for Palestinian refugees in southern Lebanon killed 13 people. The IDF said the strike targeted a Hamas training facility in the camp, which is located on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, and all 13 fatalities were Hamas operatives.

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.

UNIFIL chief says force ‘remains committed to supporting Lebanese army’

Marking Lebanon’s 82nd independence day, UNIFIL’s Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Diodato Abagnara said the Lebanese army’s redeployment is key to the country’s stability.

“On Lebanon’s 82nd Independence Day, UNIFIL remains committed to supporting the Lebanon Army — our close partner in strengthening stability in the south. Their full redeployment across south Lebanon is essential for extending state authority,” he wrote on X.

The Israeli military has conducted an air strike on southern Beirut, the first since early June, targeting Hezbollah’s second most senior figure.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF struck “in the heart of Beirut, targeting Hezbollah’s Chief of Staff, who led the organization’s buildup and armament efforts.”

An Israeli source told CNN that the target of the attack was Haytham Ali Tabatabai, effectively Hezbollah’s second-in-command.

The source added that battle damage assessment was ongoing and it’s not clear yet if Tabatabai had been killed in the strike

Netanyahu ordered the strike based on the recommendation of the Minister of Defense and the IDF Chief of Staff, his office said.

“Enemy aircraft launched a raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut, resulting in casualties and significant damage,” Lebanon’s official news agency reported.

Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered Monday in southern Beirut for the funeral of the Iran-backed terror group’s military chief, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, a day after he was assassinated by the Israel Defense Forces in an airstrike in the Lebanese capital, with attendees threatening retaliation.

Those present walked by Tabatabai’s coffin, draped in the group’s yellow flag, as it was carried through the crowd. The burial of Tabatabai and two other Hezbollah members took place in a cemetery in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a densely populated area where Hezbollah holds sway, in which the terrorist organization’s fighters are traditionally laid to rest.

The crowd yelled slogans against Israel and the United States, while supporters carried portraits of Hezbollah’s leaders and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“We will not leave our weapons! We will not leave our land!” the mourners chanted. Top Hezbollah political officials attended the funeral in person, but it was unclear if any military officials were present.

Hezbollah executive council head Sheikh Ali Daamoush said Israel should be wary of Hezbollah’s response.

Daamoush said: “The Zionists should be worried, because they’ve committed a grave crime against the resistance and against Lebanon.”

Referring to a potential diplomatic resolution to the tensions, Daamoush said: “We won’t concern ourselves with any proposals as long as the enemy doesn’t commit to the ceasefire agreement” that Israel and Hezbollah reached a year ago. Israel has accused Hezbollah of breaching the accord and says its strikes against the terror group are meant to prevent it from rearming.

Alluding to US and other countries’ pressure on Beirut to disarm Hezbollah, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement, Daamoush added: “It’s the state’s duty to defend its citizens and its sovereignty. The government needs to draw up plans for that and reject foreign diktats and pressure.”

A Hezbollah supporter at the funeral, Fatima Shehadeh, told the Associated Press that “no matter how much blood is shed, we will never surrender, and we will never hand over the weapons of the resistance.”

Israeli drones flew overhead during the funeral, Lebanese media reported, with footage showing the drones flying low over the area.

Tabatabai was considered second only to Secretary-General Naim Qassem in Hezbollah’s command structure. He was killed in a targeted airstrike in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah’s main military and financial backer, called for “revenge” in a statement.

“The right of the Axis of Resistance and Lebanese Hezbollah to avenge the blood of the brave fighters of Islam is unquestionable,” it said, referring to Iran’s regional network of terror proxies.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP on condition of anonymity that there were “two opinions within the group — those who wish to respond to the assassination and those who want to refrain from doing so — but the leadership tends to adopt the utmost forms of diplomacy at the present stage.”

Later Monday, Channel 12 cited unnamed security officials as similarly saying Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem was at a crossroads over how to respond.

Sources close to Hezbollah reportedly said the organization currently lacks the capability to launch a significant response, though they warned that the next conflict with Israel was “only a matter of time.”

According to the report, Israel has told the Lebanese government that it will continue efforts to weaken Hezbollah, urging cooperation in eradicating the group from the south of the Litani River and across Lebanon.

While Israel remains on high alert in the north, there has been no change in guidelines for Israeli residents.

Also on Monday, France’s foreign ministry expressed “deep concern” over the assassination, saying that it “increases the risk of escalation in an already highly tense situation.”

Hezbollah are a Shi'a group, to my understanding. There is no Shi'a population that I know of in the territory controlled by the State of Israel so I don't know why Hezbollah has a quarrel with Israel. If Hezbollah wouldn't threaten Israel then Israel wouldn't attack them.

Iran hates Israel because Israel supported the Shah. They don't care in the least about Sunn'i and Christian Palestinians.

It makes sense to step back and consider the big picture.

"It is not that the Jewish brethren cannot have a state, but it must go back to 1967 borders and all the lands and repairs to go to the Palestinian state must occur. Why? Because this shows that the world is not ready to allow the rights of each other. When we stated Rasul Allah will come and break the shackles, Mahdi, salamullah alaih, will break the shackles, the shackles upon humanity today is to allow an apartheid state to remain in the world, to allow people that are being killed and butchered in their thousands, starved in their thousands, and yet the world has not done enough to change this scenario, let alone the Muslims having not done enough to change this scenario. This is why it is on the agenda of Imam al-Mahdi, alayhi assalam, because until that state is removed, humanity itself is not truly allowing itself to be humanity as it ought to be humanity. You cannot still exist in a world with an apartheid state like this and consider ourselves to be in a befitting world. This is why it is on the agenda of Imam, alayhi assalam, and this is why it should be on our agenda as well."

The United Nations human rights office on Tuesday said at least 127 civilians had been killed in IDF strikes in Lebanon since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire took effect a year ago, and called for an investigation and for the truce to be upheld.

“Almost a year since the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was agreed, we continue to witness increasing attacks by the Israeli military, resulting in the killing of civilians and destruction of civilian objects in Lebanon, coupled with alarming threats of a wider, intensified offensive,” said Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, at a Geneva press briefing.

He said the number reflected deaths it had verified based on its own strict methodology but that the real toll could be higher.

The November 27, 2024, ceasefire agreement required both Israel and Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, while allowing Israel to act against imminent threats from Lebanon.

It envisioned the Lebanese military and international peacekeeping force UNIFIL taking over south Lebanon and dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.

The United Nations human rights office on Tuesday said at least 127 civilians had been killed in IDF strikes in Lebanon since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire took effect a year ago, and called for an investigation and for the truce to be upheld.

“Almost a year since the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was agreed, we continue to witness increasing attacks by the Israeli military, resulting in the killing of civilians and destruction of civilian objects in Lebanon, coupled with alarming threats of a wider, intensified offensive,” said Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, at a Geneva press briefing.

He said the number reflected deaths it had verified based on its own strict methodology but that the real toll could be higher.

The November 27, 2024, ceasefire agreement required both Israel and Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, while allowing Israel to act against imminent threats from Lebanon.

It envisioned the Lebanese military and international peacekeeping force UNIFIL taking over south Lebanon and dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.

Israel, which says Hezbollah is rebuilding, has intensified its attacks on the Iran-backed terror group in recent days, including a strike that killed its de facto military leader on Sunday.

Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire by continuing its strikes and holding onto five spots along the countries’ border.

The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The IDF says that, since the ceasefire took effect, it has killed over 350 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.

UN calls for ‘prompt and impartial’ probe
Speaking to reporters, Kheetan, the UN right office spokesman, highlighted last week’s Israeli strike on the Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon, which local media said killed 13 people, including 11 children.

Israel, which has accused both Hamas and Hezbollah of embedding themselves among civilians, said the attack targeted terror operatives at a Hamas training facility. But Kheetan told reporters in Geneva “all the fatalities we have documented as a result of this strike were civilians, raising serious concerns that the Israeli military’s attack may have violated international humanitarian law principles on the conduct of hostilities.”

“There must be prompt and impartial investigations into the Ain al-Hilweh strike, as well as all other incidents involving possible violations of international humanitarian law by all parties, both before and after the ceasefire,” Kheetan said. “Those responsible must be brought to justice.”

Asked who should carry out the investigations, he said: “When we’re talking about strikes conducted by the Israeli military, the Israeli military should investigate its own actions.”

“Of course, the Lebanese state has the responsibility to investigate similar violations that can occur from its side,” he added.

Kheetan highlighted that continuing Israeli attacks in Lebanon had also destroyed and damaged civilian infrastructure.

“They have also severely hampered reconstruction efforts and attempts by internally displaced people to go back to their homes in southern Lebanon,” he said.

According to the UN rights office, more than 64,000 people, mainly from southern Lebanon, remained displaced in other parts of the country after last year’s war.

Some of those people were prevented from returning home because of a wall constructed by the IDF that UNIFIL has said crosses the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon.

“Israel started constructing a wall crossing into Lebanese territory that makes 4,000 square meters inaccessible to the population, thus affecting people’s right to return to their lands,” Kheetan said.

“All those internally displaced must be able to go back to their homes, and reconstruction should be supported, not hampered,” he said, urging all parties to comply with the ceasefire “in good faith.”

Asked by AFP about the accusation, the Israeli military said “the wall does not cross the Blue Line.”

Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades Wednesday, part of a year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the war with Hezbollah.

The meeting was held at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in Naqoura in Lebanon, near the border with Israel.

Israel was represented by the National Security Council Deputy Director for Foreign Policy Uri Resnick. Morgan Ortagus, the US special representative for Lebanon, headed the US delegation, while Lebanon was represented by former ambassador to the US Simon Karam.

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the premier had instructed Gil Reich, acting head of the National Security Council, to send a representative to Lebanon to meet with government and economic officials.

The sides gave different accounts of the content of the meeting. Ahead of the sit-down, the Prime Minister’s Office called it “an initial attempt to create a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”

However, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam contradicted this, stressing that his country was “far from” diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel.

Salam said Lebanon was still committed to the 2002 Arab peace plan that conditions normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel on the creation of a Palestinian state — a prospect to which Netanyahu’s government has been adamantly opposed. “Economic relations would be part of such normalization, so then obviously anyone following the news would know that we are not there at all,” Salam said.

But in a statement after the meeting concluded, Netanyahu’s office once again insisted that at the meeting, conducted “in a positive atmosphere,” the sides “agreed that ideas would be developed to promote possible economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”

Lebanon had said earlier that it had agreed to send its own civilian representative — rather than a military figure — following a request to do so by the US, and Netanyahu was reportedly pressured by Washington to do so as well.

“Israel emphasized that the disarmament of Hezbollah is mandatory, regardless of progress in economic cooperation,” according to the Israeli readout of the meeting.

The sides agreed to continue the dialogue, Israel said.

The meeting was part of the “Cessation of Hostilities Implementation Mechanism” — made up of US, UNIFIL, Israeli, French, and Lebanese officials — which is aimed at pushing forward with the ceasefire reached just over a year ago with Israel.

Jerusalem and Beirut last held indirect talks in Naqoura to finalize a maritime boundary in 2022 — an agreement brokered by the US.

Wednesday’s meeting came as Israeli and US officials have warned that the IDF could embark on a major operation if the Lebanese government does not make progress in disarming the Hezbollah terror group.

Tensions in Lebanon have ratcheted up in recent weeks. The IDF accuses Hezbollah of violating the November 2024 ceasefire and has intensified its strikes against terror group targets, including killing its chief of staff in a rare strike in Beirut last month.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to vacate southern Lebanon, while Israel was given 60 days to do so. The IDF later withdrew from all but five posts along the border with Lebanon, citing the incomplete dismantling of Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the country’s south.

In addition to hundreds of airstrikes amid the ceasefire, the military said, ground troops have conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon, mostly in areas surrounding the five “strategic” border posts, to prevent Hezbollah from restoring its capabilities.

Iran will have the final say on whether or not its Lebanese proxy terror group Hezbollah agrees to disarm, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told the Saudi Al Arabiya news outlet in an interview published Saturday.

Rajji said he has brought the issue up with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, and that disarmament remains a key demand of the Lebanese government as it tries to maintain the fragile calm brought about by a ceasefire agreement with Israel last November.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, which ended the October 2023-November 2024 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group was to be disarmed and allow the Lebanese Armed Forces to deploy fully across the country. This has not yet happened, however, and Lebanon is under increasing pressure to speed up the process or risk a renewed Israeli military operation.

“Hezbollah won’t hand over its weapons without an Iranian decision,” Rajji told Al Arabiya. “Right now [Hezbollah] is concerned with preserving itself and regaining power.”

He said Hezbollah started work on “rebuilding itself in many ways,” including financially, and was trying to “regain its power internally,” after being severely weakened by its year-long conflict with Israel.

To this end, Rajji said, he was disappointed that Hezbollah did not believe disarmament to be in the interest of the Lebanese public, and indeed in its own interest as a political party.

AFP)
“The credibility of the state today depends on the extent to which it extends its authority over all Lebanese territory and confines the weapons of all armed groups to the legitimate security forces in its own territory, and with weapons exclusively in its hands,” he said, as “only then will the international community take us seriously.”

“Disarming Hezbollah and dismantling its military structure are a Lebanese demand, regardless of the international demand,” he stressed, likely referring to pressure from the US and Israel to force Hezbollah to give up its weapons.

Contrary to Hezbollah’s claims, its weapons have failed to “support Gaza, liberate Jerusalem or defend Lebanon” from Israeli attacks, said Rajji, explaining why the Lebanese government was eager to see it disarm.

He told the outlet that the Lebanese Armed Forces were determined to seize all Hezbollah weapons in southern Lebanon by the end of the year, before widening its operations to disarm the terror group in areas further north at the start of 2026.

Hezbollah “provokes the government every day with the talk by its chief, Sheikh Naim Qassem, about rearming,” said Rajji, a day after Qassem accused Beirut of giving Israel a “free concession” by dispatching a civilian rather than a military envoy to attend the first direct talks with Israel in decades on Wednesday.

The meeting at the UN peacekeeping forces’ headquarters in Naqoura, Lebanon, was held under the auspices of the “Cessation of Hostilities Implementation Mechanism” — made up of US, UNIFIL, Israeli, French, and Lebanese officials — which is aimed at pushing forward with the November 2024 ceasefire.

Israel was represented at the meeting by the National Security Council Deputy Director for Foreign Policy Uri Resnick, while Lebanon was represented by former ambassador to the US Simon Karam.

Acknowledging the unexpected choice to send a civilian representative rather than a military one, Rajji told Al Arabiya that he hoped doing so was a “positive step” which could “spare Lebanon a large-scale military operation by Israel.”

Israeli and US officials have warned that the IDF could embark on a major operation if the Lebanese government fails to make progress in disarming Hezbollah.

Unnamed Israeli officials have described the meeting as productive, saying that representatives of both countries had agreed to come to the follow-up sit-down with proposals for promoting economic cooperation in areas such as agriculture, technology, transportation and infrastructure.

Lebanon’s portrayal of the meeting differed somewhat, with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam rejecting the possibility of economic cooperation before normalization — which Lebanon has conditioned on the creation of a Palestinian state.

“Lebanon is very far from signing a peace deal with Israel,” Rajji likewise told Al Arabiya, adding that Karam was holding talks with Israel only on “military issues” such as an end to Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon and the withdrawal of the IDF from there.

And it was too soon to tell whether Rajji’s hope of avoiding a renewed Israeli military campaign was realistic, as on Thursday, the day after the meeting, the IDF launched a wave of airstrikes against what it said were Hezbollah weapons depots in southern Lebanon.

In addition to hundreds of airstrikes amid the ceasefire, the military said, ground troops have conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon, mostly in areas surrounding the five “strategic” border posts, to prevent Hezbollah from restoring its capabilities.

The operations included demolishing terror infrastructure, thwarting Hezbollah intelligence collection efforts, and other activities to damage the terror group’s capabilities, the army said. During the raids, troops located numerous weapons, rocket-launching sites, and other buildings used by Hezbollah, the army added.

I think about the Mahdi a lot. Where the heck is that guy, anyway? Just hanging out in a cave somewhere? Or maybe he's frozen in an iceberg like Aang from Avatar the Last Airbender.

Israel’s military has launched attacks on what it described as Hezbollah and Hamas “targets” in Lebanon after issuing ⁠evacuation orders for four villages in the ​country’s east and south.

An ‍Israeli army spokesperson said earlier that it was planning air strikes on Hezbollah and ‍Hamas “military infrastructure” ⁠in the villages of Hammara and Ain el-Tineh in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, and Kfar Hatta and Annan in the south.

An AFP news agency photographer in Kfar Hatta saw dozens of families flee the village after an Israeli warning was issued, with drone activity in the area. Ambulances and fire trucks were on standby.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said a drone strike on a car in the southern village of Braikeh earlier Monday wounded two people. The Israeli military said the strike targeted two Hezbollah members.

The latest attacks follow Sunday’s deadly Israeli strike on a vehicle in the Ayn al-Mizrab area north of the town of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon that killed two people. The Israeli military said the attack, which occurred 10km (6 miles) from the border, also targeted a Hezbollah member.

Israel has continued its attacks despite a United States-brokered ceasefire in 2024, which ended more than a year ‌of heavy fighting between its forces and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military has repeatedly violated the truce with bombardment and continues to occupy five areas in the country.

Pressure on Lebanon
Lebanon ‌has faced growing pressure ⁠from the US and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, and its leaders fear Israel could escalate strikes.

Lebanon’s army was expected to complete the disarmament south of the Litani River – 30km (19 miles) from the border with Israel – by the end of 2025.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday called the disarmament efforts “far from sufficient”.

Beirut-based security affairs analyst Ali Rizk said the latest attacks come as no surprise following last week’s meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“There had been reports that Israel got a green light to escalate against Hezbollah,” Rizk told Al Jazeera.

He noted Israel’s reference to Hamas as a target put more pressure on Lebanon, “not only to take action against Hezbollah, but also to take action against any other anti-Israel groups who might have a presence on Lebanese territory”.

The Lebanese government is expected to meet on Tuesday to discuss the army’s progress in disarming Hezbollah, which remains powerful despite heavy losses it sustained at the hands of Israel, which include the killing of longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024.

A ceasefire monitoring committee, including peacekeepers from Lebanon, Israel, France, the US and the United Nations, is also set to meet in the coming days.

Israel’s continued bombardment has drawn sharp criticism from the UN, which reported in November that at least 127 civilians, including children, have been killed in Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect in late 2024.

UN officials have warned that the attacks amount to “war crimes”