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Israel Strikes Lebanon After Hezbollah Attack as Ceasefire Put in Fragile Position
A drone view of buildings in Lebanon, next to the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, as seen from Metula in northern Israel, Dec. 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
The Israeli military said on Monday it struck dozens of targets throughout Lebanon, shortly after Hezbollah accused Israel of violating a ceasefire agreement and fired missiles on an Israeli military position in the Shebaa Farms area.
Residents in Beirut told Reuters they heard drones flying overhead late in the evening as Lebanon’s official news agency reported Israel had renewed strikes in southern Lebanon. Earlier, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah launched what it called a “defensive warning strike.”
On Monday, Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has for years wielded significant influence, killed at least two people.
The exchange of fire put a US-brokered ceasefire between the two in an increasingly fragile position less than a week after it took effect.
The truce prohibits Israel from conducting offensive military operations in Lebanon while requiring Lebanon to prevent armed groups, including Hezbollah, from launching attacks on Israel.
The Israeli military reported no casualties from Hezbollah’s two missile launches but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a “strong” response.
Hezbollah said its rocket fire, the first operation the group had announced since the ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday, was in retaliation for Israeli violations of the truce.
Lebanese speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who negotiated the truce on behalf of Lebanon, said Beirut had noted at least 54 ceasefire violations by Israel since Wednesday.
Lebanon’s official news agency NNA said Israeli forces fired two artillery shells toward the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif in the Bint Jbeil district, while heavy machine gun fire targeted Yaroun. No injuries were reported in either incident, NNA said, but it added that a separate Israeli strike injured others in southern Lebanese town of Talousa.
Berri urged the committee tasked with monitoring the truce to “urgently” ensure Israel halts its alleged breaches.
“We are engaging through a mechanism with France, Israel, and Lebanon to investigate and address reports of violations,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, adding that early ceasefire periods are often fragile but had broadly succeeded in reducing violence.
DEADLY STRIKES
Lebanon and Israel have already traded accusations of breaches, and on Monday Lebanon said the violations had turned deadly.
One person was killed in an Israeli air attack on Marjayoun, about 10 km (6 miles) from Israel‘s northern border, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Lebanon’s state security agency said an Israeli drone strike in Nabatieh killed a member of its force, calling the incident a “flagrant violation” of the truce.
The Lebanese army said an Israeli drone struck an army bulldozer near the Syrian border, wounding one soldier.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the incidents in Marjayoun and Nabatieh but said it had targeted military vehicles near Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and near the Syrian border.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denied wrongdoing, accusing Hezbollah of moving weapons south of the Litani River in defiance of the agreement.
“Israel is committed to the successful implementation of the ceasefire, but we will not accept a return to the situation as it stood on October 6, 2023,” Saar said in a statement, referring to the day before the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel.
Hezbollah began firing barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel almost daily following the Hamas onslaught, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes. Israel exchanged fire with Hezbollah for months across the Lebanon border and intensified its military campaign over the last two months, leading to the recent ceasefire.
Public broadcaster Kan reported that US envoy Amos Hochstein, who brokered the truce, warned Israel over alleged violations.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a “powerful blow” against Hezbollah, saying the group had made a “big mistake” by targeting Israeli territory.
The post Israel Strikes Lebanon After Hezbollah Attack as Ceasefire Put in Fragile Position first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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