An Israeli strike on one of the areas of Jarmaq and Mahmoudiya in Lebanon. Photo courtesy of Quds news.
NNA said the raids began at around 2:15 p.m., with multiple strikes targeting the two locations, both situated along the slopes of the eastern sector of the southern front.
The renewed air raids mark another escalation in what has become a pattern of Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon, despite the ceasefire reached in November 2024, which ended the last round of large-scale fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israeli aggression continued
Last week, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said that it had recorded more than 10,000 air and ground violations inside Lebanese territory since the ceasefire came into effect at the end of 2024.
According to the mission, since the ceasefire began in November 2024, it has recorded “over 7,500 air violations, almost 2,500 ground violations north of the Blue Line,” inside Lebanese territory.
Despite a ceasefire agreement meant to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued its airstrikes with impunity, drawing increasing criticism from the international community.
The 2024 war saw Israel's airstrikes devastate Lebanon’s infrastructure and target densely populated areas, killing at least 2,720 Lebanese, the majority of whom were civilians. It marked Israel’s sixth invasion of Lebanon since 1978.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israeli occupation forces were required to withdraw from Lebanon by 26 January 2025 fully. However, Israel has ignored this deadline, partially withdrawing troops from some villages while retaining control over five military outposts in the southern highlands.
The ongoing occupation of these outposts has been widely condemned as a blatant violation of the ceasefire, raising serious doubts about Israel’s commitment to upholding the agreement.
Since the ceasefire began, Israeli attacks have killed hundreds of Lebanese and wounded almost 1,000.
Lebanese reactions
The latest strikes come amid heightened tensions following Israel’s assassination of Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s chief of general staff, in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday — the most senior Hezbollah leader killed since the November 2024 ceasefire.
Hezbollah confirmed that Tabatabai, 57, and four other members were killed in the attack on Haret Hreik, a densely populated area where the group maintains wide influence. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the strike killed five people and wounded 28.
Tabatabai assumed the group’s top military role after last year’s war. Hezbollah has called for a mass funeral in Beirut’s southern suburbs to honour what it described as its “great leader.”
The assassination followed a series of deadly Israeli attacks across Lebanon in recent days, including airstrikes on the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp that killed 13 people, most of them youths playing football.
Hezbollah has signalled a firm rejection of any proposal it views as forcing Lebanon into capitulation, insisting that the country is being pushed to choose between “continued killing or complete surrender,” according to MP Hasan Fadlallah of the Loyalty to Resistance bloc as reported by Lebanese news outlet Al Manar.
Speaking at a memorial in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Fadlallah said no genuine political offer has been presented that would halt Israeli aggression, arguing that "all the concessions made at the Lebanese political level have not been met by the enemy government with any step towards Lebanon, because what they are proposing is that the country surrender."
He stressed that Hezbollah “will not allow Lebanon to surrender to it, no matter the sacrifices and costs,” vowing that the group will continue resisting despite the severe hardships facing the country.
On Tuesday, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri warned of a potential escalation of Israeli aggression in the coming period. Berri, the head of Amal Party, emphasized in a press statement that the Lebanese resistance has fully adhered to the cessation of hostilities agreement, while Israel continues its unchecked violations of Lebanese territory.
On Sunday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called for immediate international intervention to halt Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon. In a statement, Aoun emphasized that the international community must take decisive action, saying, “We call on the international community to assume its responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people.”
Short link: