New Israeli airstrikes hit southern, eastern Lebanon amid ongoing ceasefire violation

Israeli warplanes have launched airstrikes on several locations across southern and eastern Lebanon, in the latest near-daily violation of last year’s ceasefire agreement.

Lebanon's Elnashra news network reported that the Thursday strikes targeted areas in southern Lebanon, including al-Jabour, al-Qatrani and al-Rayhan, as well as Buday and the Hermel regions in the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country.

According to Lebanon's official news agency (NNA), the airstrikes also hit a riverbed near the southern town of Zawtar in Nabatieh district and an area between Deir Siryan and al-Qusayr in Marjayoun.

Lebanon's health ministry said at least four people were wounded in the Taybeh strike.

The NNA reported that the strike wounded several employees in Lebanon's state electricity company, as their truck was passing next to the targeted vehicle.

The raids mark the latest in a relentless pattern of Israeli strikes since a ceasefire took effect in late 2024.

On Tuesday, at least two people were killed in Israeli strikes, one of them 30 kilometers south of Beirut.

Around 340 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since a ceasefire agreement went into force.

Despite the November 2024 ceasefire, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five southern areas.

The Israeli military campaign throughout 2025 has been devastating. Between January and late November, Israeli forces conducted nearly 1,600 strikes across Lebanon, according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

The continued Israeli bombardment has drawn sharp criticism from the UN, which has recorded dozens of civilian deaths.

Senior UN officials have warned the Israeli regime that the attacks and strikes on the Lebanese civilian sites may constitute war crimes.

Human rights groups documented in a report released this week that Israeli forces have systematically targeted reconstruction equipment across southern Lebanon as the region remains devastated by Israel’s military campaign, with residential buildings and civilian infrastructure targeted in bombings.

The rights group investigated four attacks between August and October that destroyed more than 360 heavy machines, including bulldozers and excavators vital for clearing rubble and rebuilding homes.

Local residents told researchers they now clear rubble by hand, fearing that any machinery brought in will be hit.

The independent conflict monitoring organisation ACLED has recorded 1,846 Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire began.

On average, only two days of each month have not seen an Israeli attack.

The bombings have grown more frequent in recent weeks, with an average of six per day so far in December, or one every four hours - the fastest pace of attacks since March.

The UN mission in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, says the agreement has been violated more than 10,000 times - once every 53 minutes.

That includes the attacks monitored by ACLED, as well as more than 2,500 Israeli military ground activities and over 7,800 violations of Lebanese airspace.

Satellite images show Israel has started construction on a new base, between 8 and 18 February - within days of the withdrawal deadline.

Israel retains control of four other bases on Lebanese territory, scattered along hilltops near the border.

Lebanon lodges UN complaint over Israeli wall construction on its territory

The complaint was submitted through Lebanon’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.

Lebanon has raised complaints with the UN about these bases, as well as Israel's recent extension of a wall along the Lebanese border. The UN says that two sections of the wall cross into Lebanese territory.

Lebanon's Berri ridicules Paris conference on disarmament of Hezbollah

Meanwhile, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri described Thursday a series of Israeli strikes on east and south Lebanon as a "message" to a Paris conference dedicated to the disarmament of Hezbollah

The meeting in Paris is taking place today at a time when France and the United States, key backers of the Israeli regime, are pressuring the Lebanese government to accelerate disarmament of the Lebanese resistance movement.

The attacks come as a committee monitoring the ceasefire is set to meet on Friday.

Berri also sarcastically said the airstrikes are "in honor" of Friday's meeting.

'Occupation came before weapons': Netizens slam Lebanon FM over tirade against Hezbollah, Iran

Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji blamed Hezbollah for Lebanon’s occupation and accused Iran of fueling instability in the country.

Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chairman of Hezbollah's political council, on Thursday said that the group would not surrender its weapons under any circumstances and vowed it would never retreat from its role as a deterrent force defending Lebanon against Israeli aggression.

He cautioned that Lebanon’s very existence and survival are at risk, adding that Hezbollah forces will not fully withdraw from areas south of the Litani River and will maintain a presence there.

Qamati emphasized that Hezbollah is prepared to confront any act of aggression. “If the resistance group runs out of patience, it will no longer argue with anyone,” the senior Hezbollah official said.

Despite almost daily Israeli airstrikes and ongoing breaches of Lebanese airspace and sovereignty, Hezbollah continues to be the sole credible military entity capable of challenging the occupation and thwarting additional Israeli intrusions.

Hezbollah’s Secretary General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, also recently vowed the movement will never lay down its weapons, criticizing the Lebanese government’s plan to establish a state monopoly on arms and arguing that the issue is exploited by the United States and Israel to press for the group’s disarmament.

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