Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across Lebanon on Friday, less than a week before a domestic Lebanese deadline for the first phase of Hezbollah’s disarmament plan, targeting what the IDF said were Hezbollah training sites, weapons depots and other infrastructure.
The military said the strikes hit multiple areas, including northern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley near the town of Hermel, deep inside the country and roughly 140 kilometers (87 miles) from the Israeli border. The attack followed a similar strike a day earlier in the Housh al-Sayyid Ali area.
Israeli airstrikes in northern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley
According to the military, one of the main targets was a training and preparation compound used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, where operatives conducted live-fire drills and other weapons training and planned attacks. The IDF said additional strikes hit weapons warehouses, military buildings and other Hezbollah infrastructure.
“The targets that were struck and the military training conducted by Hezbollah constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and pose a threat to the State of Israel,” the military said.
The IDF said about 15 Hezbollah targets were struck in southern and central Lebanon, more than 10 Hezbollah military sites north of the Litani River. Since the start of the ceasefire agreement, Israel has killed more than 390 terrorists and struck hundreds of targets, the military said, adding it remains committed to the understandings while acting to remove threats to Israel.
Lebanese media reported that, alongside the strikes in northern Lebanon, drone attacks also took place near the village of Shebaa and close to the southern village of Jezzine.
Israeli airstrike eliminates senior operative in Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon
On Thursday, Israel said it carried out a targeted killing deep inside Lebanon of a man it identified as Hussein al-Johari, whom it described as a senior operative in Iran’s Quds Force. In a joint statement, the IDF and Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said al-Jawhari was part of Unit 840, involved in planning attacks against Israel from the Syria-Lebanon arena under the direction of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
The strikes come as Lebanon’s army prepares to announce the completion of the first phase of a multi-stage plan to consolidate weapons under state control. That initial phase focused on areas south of the Litani River. In the coming days, near the end-of-year deadline cited in Lebanese reports, the army is expected to declare a move to the second phase, covering the area between the Litani and Awali rivers.
The overall plan includes five phases and also addresses the collection of weapons from Palestinian refugee camps. Hezbollah has said it will not relinquish its arms under external pressure, insisting that any discussion of its weapons must be part of an internal Lebanese dialogue on national defense strategy. It remains unclear how the group will respond as the army moves north of the Litani.