
Israeli army says targeted 'Hezbollah rocket sites' north of Litani River
According to army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, the raids hit rocket and missile launch platforms as well as weapons depots.
The Israeli military said, "Hezbollah's military activity and weapons presence in this area represent a clear violation of understandings between Israel and Lebanon."
The army confirmed it will continue operations to eliminate any threats posed to the State of Israel.
#عاجل 🔸جيش الدفاع هاجم مواقع عسكرية ومنصات صاروخية لحزب الله شمال منطقة الليطاني في لبنان
🔸أغارت طائرات حربية لسلاح الجو على مواقع عسكرية لحزب الله الارهابي تحتوي على منصات قذائف صاروخية وصواريخ إلى جانب مستودعات وسائل قتالية في منطقة شمال الليطاني.
🔸يشكل وجود أسلحة وأنشطة…
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) June 23, 2025
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


L'Orient-Le Jour
33 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Aoun urges extension of UN peacekeepers' mandate
President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday warned against ending the United Nations peacekeepers' mandate in the country's south, after the U.N. Security Council began debating extending their mission. The annual mandate renewal this year comes after Lebanese authorities, under heavy U.S. pressure, have committed to disarming Hezbollah by year's end, following a November cease-fire deal that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between the Iran-backed group and Israel. Israel and the United States, which wields a veto on the Security Council, have reportedly opposed the renewal. "Any timetable for the mandate of UNIFIL that is different from the actual needs will negatively impact the situation in the South, which still suffers from Israeli occupation," Aoun told force commander Diodato Abagnara, according to a presidency statement. The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon has been deployed since 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon and counts some 10,000 personnel from around 50 countries. The Security Council on Monday began debating a resolution drafted by France to extend the force for a year with the ultimate aim of withdrawing it. Aoun said Beirut "has begun contacts with Security Council member states, and brotherly and friendly countries, to ensure the extension" of UNIFIL's mandate. He cited Lebanon's need for the force to help "maintain security and stability in the south" and to support the army following the government's decision to increase troop numbers there to 10,000 personnel. Under the cease-fire, Hezbollah was to withdraw from near the Israeli border, while the Lebanese Army was to bolster its deployment there. Abagnara said on X that UNIFIL's "close coordination" with the Lebanese Army was "key to help restore stability." Last week, UNIFIL said that with its support, the army had deployed to more than 120 positions in the country's south. Despite the cease-fire, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, saying it will do so until Hezbollah is disarmed. Israeli forces also occupy five areas of the south that it deems strategic. The text of the draft resolution would extend UNIFIL's mandate until Aug. 31, 2026, but "indicates its intention to work on a withdrawal of UNIFIL." A vote of the 15-member Security Council is expected on Aug. 25, before the force's mandate expires at the end of the month.


L'Orient-Le Jour
33 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Hezbollah and Iran want to drag Amal into a conflict it does not want: Gemayel
Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel accused Iran and Hezbollah of trying to "forcibly drag" the Amal Movement into a conflict "it does not want," as both Tehran and the party push back against the Lebanese government's decision to disarm Amal. At the start of August, the government tasked the Lebanese Army with developing a plan to disarm Hezbollah and restore the state's monopoly on weapons, following the latest war with Israel. Hezbollah rejects the measure as long as Israeli forces remain in south Lebanon and continue their near-daily attacks. "It is clear that Iran is trying to forcibly drag the Amal Movement into the conflict," Gemayel said in an interview with the Kuwaiti daily al-Siyassa published Tuesday. "Although Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri spoke clearly about the exclusivity of arms, Hezbollah and the Iranian envoy [Ali Larijani, who visited Beirut last week] reaffirmed their alliance with Amal and rejected disarmament." "The ball is in the Shiite community's court" Gemayel said there is "no other choice but to hand over the weapons, either by putting pressure on Iran or by letting the Lebanese state assume its responsibilities." He added that "about 90 percent of Parliament supports weapons being exclusively in the army's hands. It is not permissible for 10 percent of MPs to hold Parliament hostage." "Hezbollah's weapons have not protected Lebanon, but instead attracted war, since the country is now under Israeli occupation," Gemayel said. "There is no country in the world where resistance exists alongside the army. It is time for a change of approach and for weapons to be exclusively under the Lebanese Army's control, as is the case everywhere else." According to him, Hezbollah and Amal must realize "some are dragging them into wars against Israel, at times against the Lebanese interior, or even against each other. It is time to say to that camp: enough is enough." For Gemayel, the solution "lies within the Shiite community, which must free itself from Iran's grip and its desire to drag it into more violence." Gemayel said he is awaiting the army's plan but cautioned that "things will not be easy as long as the Shiite community has not risen up against Tehran's diktat." He also accused Iran of damaging Lebanon's ties with the Gulf by backing Hezbollah and enabling drug smuggling to GCC countries. "Our goal today is to restore these relations, and this is what the current authority, led by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, is doing. They are accomplishing remarkable work and making very courageous decisions," he said. "Our Arab friends are called upon to stand by us during this period so we can bring Lebanon back into the Arab fold."


L'Orient-Le Jour
34 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Fuel tax: Finance Ministry defends its position before State Council
Finance Minister Yassine Jaber did send a statement to the State Council to explain why he believed the government's May 19, 2025, decision to tax certain fuels and use the proceeds from these taxes to fund aid for the Lebanese Army should be reinstated, according to a well-informed source at the Finance Ministry. According to this source, the minister said he took what he considers a "normal" step to defend the point of view of the executive branch and the Ministry before the highest administrative jurisdiction. The latter had suspended this decision last July following an appeal filed by the Lebanese Forces, while it considers the merits of the case — something that could take some time. Partly confirming information reported Monday by the MTV channel regarding this statement, the source added that the minister notably argued that the government could act in customs matters under law No. 93 of Oct. 10, 2018, whose effects were extended by another text suspending this period for a year and a half. According to the channel, the finance minister and his colleague at defense, Michel Menassa, agree to maintain army aid funded by the tax's proceeds. Lebanese soldiers have been mobilized to bolster border security with Syria, which underwent a regime change last December, and to disarm armed militias in the country, including Hezbollah and those in Palestinian camps. By contrast, military salaries have melted away since the crisis triggered by the depreciation of the Lebanese pound and have yet to be fully adjusted to offset these losses. The constitution reserves to Parliament the authority to intervene in fiscal matters. But in 2018, it allowed the government to do so for five years, notably in customs matters (law No. 93 of Oct. 10, 2018) — a power the cabinet later delegated to the Higher Customs Council. However, while the duration of this exemption was supposed to expire at the end of October 2023, a law passed in 2024 suspended legal and contractual deadlines for the period from Oct. 8, 2023 — that is, the first day of the war between Hezbollah and Israel — until March 31, 2025, citing the grave instability of the security situation. After being approached by 10 MPs from the Free Patriotic Movement, the Constitutional Council initially suspended the effects of the law before reinstating almost all its provisions on Jan. 16. The law granting the government a customs-related exemption has not, for its part, been challenged before the Constitutional Council, though the legitimacy of the exceptional measure it establishes remains hotly debated. The Cabinet's adoption of the fuel tax caused an outcry at the time. It was enforced for a month and a half before the State Council suspended it.