The Israeli military carried out heavy air strikes on southern Lebanon yesterday after issuing evacuation orders for several locations, saying Lebanese armed group Hizbollah was trying to rebuild its military capabilities there.
The orders and strikes came despite a ceasefire deal agreed a year ago that was meant to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hizbollah, and after months of Lebanese army efforts to clear Hizbollah sites in the south.
Giving a preliminary toll, the Lebanese health ministry said that one person was wounded in the afternoon bombing after one person was killed in strikes earlier in the day.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued three simultaneous evacuation orders on X, with maps showing buildings in the villages of Aita Al Jabal, Al Tayyiba and Tayr Debba. Two more orders came later for other towns in the south.
The locations ranged from just 4km away from the Israeli border to nearly 24km north of the frontier.
The posts ordered residents to keep a 500-metre distance from the identified locations. Lebanon’s civil defence helped people to evacuate, the Lebanese state news agency said.
The air strikes began about an hour after the orders, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky.
Fears have been mounting in Lebanon that Israel could resume a full-blown aerial bombing campaign, particularly after Israeli leaders warned they would take action against Hizbollah if Lebanon did not step up efforts to disarm the group.
“We are in a very dangerous situation; if things keep heading this way... then all hope is lost. No one knows where the consequences of these matters will lead,” said Farid Nahnouh, mayor of Tayr Debba.
While Israel has carried out frequent strikes targeting what it says are Hizbollah military sites and group members present in south Lebanon over the last year, they have rarely come with evacuation orders.
“Israel will continue to defend all of its borders, and we continue also to insist on the full enforcement of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel,” Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said.
Bedrosian said Israel will not allow Hizbollah to rearm or to recover the military strength that was shattered by Israel’s ground and air war in 2023-24.
Hizbollah said yesterday it was committed to the ceasefire, but that it retained a “legitimate right” to resist Israel. It has refused to disarm in full, but has not obstructed the army’s efforts in the south and has not fired on Israel since the truce deal came into force last year.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon said the Israeli air strikes constitute clear violations of Security Council resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 with the aim of keeping peace along the Lebanon-Israel border.
“We call on Israel to immediately cease these attacks and all violations of resolution 1701. Likewise, we urge Lebanese actors to refrain from any response that could inflame the situation further,” UNIFIL added.
The Lebanese army in a statement condemned the strikes, calling them “a continuation of the enemy’s destructive approach aimed at undermining Lebanon’s stability and widening destruction in the south.”
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