NEBATIEH, LEBANON – SEPTEMBER 25: Smoke rises from the area following an Israeli army attack on the town of Khiam, located in the Nabatieh province of southern Lebanon, on September 25, 2024. ( Stringer – Anadolu Agency )Israeli airstrikes hit multiple areas across southern Lebanon, deepening concerns over the durability of the November 2024 ceasefire and raising fears of renewed escalation along the border.
Israeli occupation forces carried out a series of airstrikes on Friday across southern Lebanon, marking another violation of the ceasefire agreement reached with Hezbollah in late November 2024.
The attacks were reported by regional media and confirmed through multiple field accounts.
Israeli warplanes targeted the Louaizeh Heights in the Jezzine district and the Tibna area near Saida.
Additional strikes hit the outskirts of Ansar and the Wadi Zifta area in Nabatieh district, expanding the scope of the attacks across several southern regions.
Additional reports said Israeli raids struck Jabal al Rayhan, the areas surrounding Tebna and Wadi Zifta, as well as a separate attack on an uninhabited mountain area in the western Bekaa. Earlier in the day, an Israeli helicopter reportedly targeted an excavator in the border town of Aita al Shaab.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that the air force targeted what he described as a training complex belonging to Hezbollah’s Radwan Force. He also claimed that military buildings were struck during the operation.
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Adraee later said Israeli forces intercepted what he described as a “false target” near the northern Israeli town of Buram after sirens sounded over a suspected drone infiltration.
Reuters, however, cited a source close to Hezbollah who said the group was not linked to the incident.
These claims came as Israel continued to assert that its operations are aimed at Hezbollah infrastructure, despite repeated reports that the strikes are undermining the ceasefire and expanding instability across southern Lebanon.
Ceasefire pressure
The latest attacks add to a growing list of alleged Israeli violations of the Declaration of Cessation of Hostilities issued on November 27, 2024, as well as UN Security Council Resolution 1701 adopted in 2006. Tensions have steadily escalated as air raids continue despite the truce.
Lebanese officials and analysts say the continued attacks risk unraveling the already fragile ceasefire.
From October 2023 to November 2024, Israeli strikes killed more than 4000 people in Lebanon, among them 736 women, 222 health and rescue workers, and 248 children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
NABATIEH, LEBANON – OCTOBER 13: A view of the destruction following the Israeli army’s attack in Nabatieh, Lebanon on October 13, 2024. In a series of pre-dawn airstrikes on Sunday, Israeli warplanes targeted multiple locations in southern Lebanon, causing significant destruction, according to the Lebanese National News Agency. ( Stringer – Anadolu Agency )
Under the ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces were expected to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by January 2025. The withdrawal remains incomplete, with Israeli forces still maintaining positions in several border areas.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia armed group which is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, has dismissed the efforts to disarm it as a U.S.-Israeli plan demanded at a time when Israel is conducting daily air strikes on Lebanon.
“To demand exclusive arms control while Israel is committing aggression and America is imposing its will on Lebanon, stripping it of its power, means that you are not working in Lebanon’s interest but rather in the interest of what Israel wants,” Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said this week.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon reported that its peacekeepers came under fire near Kafer Shouba on Friday, confirming that the shots originated from Israeli positions south of the Blue Line. The incidents occurred during coordinated patrols in sensitive areas.
“Earlier today, peacekeepers on patrol near Kafer Shouba reported fifteen rounds of small arms fire that struck no more than fifty meters away from them,” UNIFIL said. Less than twenty minutes later, a second patrol reported approximately 100 rounds of machine gun fire.
“Incidents like these are happening on a too-regular basis, and becoming a concerning trend,” UNIFIL said, calling on the Israeli army to cease aggressive behavior near peacekeepers and warning that such actions are serious violations of Resolution 1701.
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