The Israeli military carried out heavy airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Thursday after issuing evacuation orders for several locations, citing concerns that Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was attempting to rebuild its military capabilities.
The strikes and evacuation orders came despite a ceasefire agreed a year ago, intended to end over a year of fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, and after months of Lebanese army operations to clear Hezbollah sites in the south.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, one person was wounded in Thursday afternoon strikes, following one death earlier in the day.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued three simultaneous evacuation orders at 3 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) via X, directing residents to leave buildings in the villages of Aita al-Jabal, Al-Tayyiba, and Tayr Debba. Two further orders were issued for other towns, covering areas from just 4 km (2.5 miles) from the Israeli border to nearly 24 km north of the frontier. Evacuees were instructed to maintain a 500-metre (1,650-foot) distance from targeted locations, with Lebanon’s civil defence assisting residents, the Lebanese state news agency reported.
The airstrikes began roughly an hour after the evacuation notices, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky.
“We are in a very dangerous situation; if things keep heading this way… then all hope is lost. No one knows where the consequences of these matters will lead,” said Farid Nahnouh, mayor of Tayr Debba.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said, “Israel will continue to defend all of its borders, and we continue also to insist on the full enforcement of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel. Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rearm or to recover the military strength that was shattered by Israel’s ground and air war in 2023-24.”
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Hezbollah stated that it remains committed to the ceasefire but retains a “legitimate right” to resist Israel. The group has not fully disarmed, but it has not obstructed the Lebanese army’s efforts in the south nor fired on Israel since the truce came into effect.
The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) condemned the Israeli airstrikes as clear violations of Security Council resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to maintain peace along the Lebanon-Israel border. “We call on Israel to immediately cease these attacks and all violations of resolution 1701. Likewise, we urge Lebanese actors to refrain from any response that could inflame the situation further,” UNIFIL said.
The Lebanese army described the strikes as “a continuation of the enemy’s destructive approach aimed at undermining Lebanon’s stability and widening destruction in the south.”
The evacuation warnings coincided with a cabinet meeting to receive updates from army commander Rodolphe Haykal on the ongoing disarmament of Hezbollah arms depots in southern Lebanon. Officials said the army could clear all southern Lebanon of arms outside state control by the end of the year, and troops are making progressively faster gains in the disarmament effort.
The airstrikes destroyed an ironworks business in the southern town of Abbasiyeh, further heightening fears of renewed escalation.
