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israel carried out a series of air strikes on southern and northeastern lebanon Thursday’s deadline to disarm militants approaches Hezbollah Groups on the countries’ tense border.
The attacks came a day before a meeting of the committee monitoring the implementation of the US-brokered ceasefire that stopped the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. The gathering on Friday will be the second meeting of the mechanism after Israel and Lebanon previously appointed only civilian members to the military committee. The group also includes the United States, France And United Nations peacekeeping forces are deployed on the border.
In ParisThe Lebanese army commander, General Rodolphe Haikal, was scheduled to meet with American, French and Saudi officials to discuss ways to assist the army in its mission to increase its presence in the border area. Haikal began his meetings by first talking with French military officers.
General Fabien Mandon, chief of staff of the French armed forces, posted on Thursday that he discussed with Heckel the strategic environment and security challenges in Lebanon and the region.
Mandon said France’s help to the Lebanese army is guided by a common objective, which is to “contribute to maintaining stability and lasting peace with respect for the sovereignty of Lebanon.”
The Lebanese government said the army should have cleared the entire border area south of the Litani River of Hezbollah’s armed presence by the end of the year.
The Israeli military said the strikes hit Hezbollah infrastructure and launching sites in a military complex used by the group to conduct training and courses for its fighters. The Israeli military also said it attacked several Hezbollah military structures that stored weapons, and from which Hezbollah members had recently operated.
According to Lebanon’s official National News Agency, or NNA, intense airstrikes extended from areas of Mount Rihan in the south to the northeastern Hermel region near the border with Syria.
Shortly afterward, four people were injured in a drone strike on a car near the southern city of Tayyeb, NNA reported.
Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri said of the attacks, “This is an Israeli message to the Paris meeting aimed at supporting the Lebanese army.”
“The Israeli air strikes are to honor the meeting tomorrow (Friday) of the Fire Belt Mechanism,” Berri said during a parliamentary meeting in Beirut.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel carried out widespread bombing of Lebanon in September 2024, severely weakening Hezbollah, followed by a ground offensive.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Israel has since carried out almost daily airstrikes, mainly targeting Hezbollah members, but also killing 127 civilians.
Over the past several weeks, the United States has increased pressure on Lebanon to do more to disarm Hezbollah.