Israel carried out a series of strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon after claiming that the group was attempting to rearm.
The war between Israel and Hezbollah de facto ended last November with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, leaving the Shiite group the most battered that it’s ever been. Israel still hasn’t fully withdrawn from southern Lebanon and has conducted periodic strikes against Hezbollah targets in the interim. It stepped up its strikes on Thursday, when Israeli Air Force planes struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
Warnings were issued before each strike, and no casualties were immediately reported.
“You are located in a building used by Hezbollah. For your safety, you are requested to evacuate immediately to a distance of at least 500 meters from the building. Remaining in the vicinity of these structures endangers your lives,” Israel Defense Forces Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in messages to Lebanese civilians, according to CNN.
Strikes were carried out against the towns of Toura, Aabbasiyyeh, Taybeh, Tayr Debba, and Aita al Jabal. Israeli drones or warplanes were also seen above Beirut.
Lebanese sources reported that the Lebanese Army was warned by the IDF to evacuate the headquarters of its Fouj Intervention unit in Kfar Dounine, suggesting that Hezbollah was using the counterterror unit’s central base for its own operations.
Israeli officials told CNN that Jerusalem has been warning in recent weeks of “Hezbollah attempts to rearm and reestablish its offensive capabilities.” Lebanon will be near the top of the agenda at a planned Israeli Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The Israeli warnings of rearmament come as Lebanon stubbornly resists pressure from the United States and Egypt to engage in direct talks with Israel. Hezbollah rejected any talks with Israel in a statement, saying it would “not serve the national interest.”
“We reaffirm our legitimate right to defend ourselves against an enemy that imposes war on our country and does not cease its attacks,” the militant group said, according to Al Jazeera.
Lebanon and Israel only communicate through a United Nations-backed monitoring mechanism led by France and the U.S., without either side directly engaging with the other.
The past week has witnessed increased attacks from Israel, drawing condemnations from Beirut. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun bashed Israel last week for stepping up strikes, arguing that it showed an unwillingness to de-escalate.
“Lebanon is ready for negotiations to end the Israeli occupation, but any negotiation … requires mutual willingness, which is not the case,” Aoun said on Friday.
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Israel “is responding to this option by carrying out more attacks against Lebanon … and intensifying tensions,” he added.
Lebanon is in one of its most uncertain periods since the withdrawal of Syrian forces in 2005, as last year’s devastating war in Israel has left the de facto controllers of the country, Hezbollah, severely weakened. The fall of the Assad regime in December and the further weakening of Hezbollah’s main patron, Iran, in June have also exerted critical pressure on the group. The U.S. has pushed Beirut to use the opportunity to disarm Hezbollah, something many fear could send the brittle country spiraling back into civil war.
