Israel carries out bombing spree on south Lebanon against alleged Hezbollah targets

The National

4 hours ago

Israeli fighter jets carried out at least 15 air strikes on south Lebanon on Friday morning, in attacks on reported Hezbollah underground infrastructure, breaching a fragile ceasefire.
Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Avichay Adraee said that the targeted site had previously been 'rendered inoperable' by Israeli attacks.
He said Hezbollah has recently been seeking to rebuild the site, situated in the Beaufort Ridge area to the south-east of Nabatieh city. Lt Col Adraee did not provide evidence to back this claim.
'The existence of the site and attempts to restore it constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,' he added.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. The attacks were the latest frequent breaches by Israel of a US-brokered ceasefire in November that ended 14 months of fighting with Hezbollah.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group has largely withdrawn its forces from south of the Litani river, in line with the ceasefire agreement, Lebanese authorities have previously told The National.
The agreement requires the Lebanese state to disarm and dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and military positions 'starting with the southern Litani area' within 60 days. But it did not set a timeline for dismantling the group's positions north of the river. The Litani runs roughly parallel to the southern border with Israel, about 30km away.
Hezbollah, severely weakened by last year's fighting, did not intervene in support of its patron Iran in Tehran's 12-day conflict with Israel this month.