Israel's air force struck areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in the country's third-largest city, just days before the Lebanese government is scheduled to discuss Hezbollah's disarmament.
A strike around 1 a.m. Tuesday leveled a three-story commercial building in the southern coastal city of Sidon. While residents report the building was uninhabited, at least one person was transported to hospital by ambulance after sustaining injuries from the blast.
Earlier Monday, Lebanon's Health Ministry confirmed that a drone strike on a car in the southern village of Braikeh wounded two people. The Israeli military said the strike targeted two Hezbollah members.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the attacks in a statement Tuesday, calling them counter to both international efforts to de-escalate hostilities and Lebanon's efforts to extend government authority into areas long dominated by Hezbollah.
The airstrikes hit villages north of the Litani River and far from the immediate border area, raising questions about the scope of Israel's continued military operations inside Lebanon. Under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon by January, but it has only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.
The Lebanese government is scheduled to discuss Hezbollah's disarmament during a meeting Thursday that will be attended by army commander Gen. Rudolph Haikal.
Since the ceasefire, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing at least 127 civilians, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. The continued strikes threaten to undermine the fragile peace and complicate Lebanon's efforts to assert sovereignty over its southern territories.
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