Israel’s air force struck multiple areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, with Israel’s army claiming the places held infrastructure for the militant groups, Hezbollah and Hamas.
The Lebanese government is scheduled to discuss Hezbollah’s disarmament during a meeting Thursday that will be attended by army commander Gen. Rudolph Haikal.
A photographer working with an international news agency said a three-storey commercial complex in the southern coastal city of Sidon was levelled, but was uninhabited. However, at least one person was transported by ambulance and rescue teams were searching the site for others, although there were no immediate reports of deaths.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a home struck in the village of Manara in the Bekaa Valley belonged to Sharhabil al-Sayed, a Hamas military commander who was killed in an Israeli drone strike in May 2024.
Nearly two hours before the strikes, Israel’s military Arabic language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, had posted warnings on X that the military would strike targets for Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas groups in two villages in the eastern Bekaa Valley and two others in southern Lebanon.
The later strike in Sidon was unannounced and came without warning, with the Israeli army not issuing any statement on it.
Also Read: Trump-Netanyahu meeting: US President says Hamas must disarm
Earlier Monday, Lebanon’s health ministry said a drone strike on a car in the southern village of Braikeh on that day had wounded two people. The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted two Hezbollah members.
The Lebanese army began the disarmament process of Palestinian groups last year, with the government saying that by the end of 2025, all the areas close to the border with Israel – known as the south Litani area – will be clear of Hezbollah’s armed presence.
The disarmament of Hezbollah and other Palestinian groups by the Lebanese government came after a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah in which much of the political and military leadership of the Iran-backed group was killed.
The Israel-Hezbollah war began October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September 2024 that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.
The war ended in November 2024 with a ceasefire brokered by the US.
Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing at least 127 civilians, according to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Follow us
