Israel reportedly carried out a series of airstrikes in southern and northeastern Lebanon just ahead of the December 31 deadline for the disarmament of the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
The attacks hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites and launch sites at a military complex that the terror organization uses to train and provide courses to its members. The Associated Pressciting the Israeli army. Israel also said it had hit Hezbollah military structures where weapons were stored.
The attacks were launched just before a meeting of the committee overseeing enforcement of a US-brokered ceasefire that ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. The cohort also includes US, French and United Nations peacekeepers deployed along the Israel-Lebanon border.
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Smoke rises from the scene of a series of Israeli airstrikes on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of al-Katrani on December 18, 2025. (Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, US, Saudi and French officials will take part in a meeting with Lebanese army commander General Rodolph Haikal. The group is expected to discuss ways to help the Lebanese army increase its presence in the border area, the AP said.
Hezbollah members salute and raise the group’s yellow flags during the funeral of their fallen comrades Ismail Baz and Mohamad Hussein Shohury, who were killed in an Israeli attack on their vehicles, in Shehabiya in southern Lebanon on April 17, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
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The meeting in Paris is also intended to deter Israel from escalating. according to Reuterswhich quoted European and Lebanese diplomats and officials. The officials also said there are concerns about political paralysis and party politics playing a role in the situation, and may even deter Lebanese President Joseph Aoun from pushing for Hezbollah’s disarmament as the country prepares for 2026 parliamentary elections.
The Lebanese government has said it expects the army to clear the border area south of the Litani River of Hezbollah’s armed presence by the end of the year.
A view of the southern Lebanese town of Kfarkela, as seen from the border of Israel, on February 18, 2025. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Speaker of Lebanon’s parliament, Nabih Berri, said the attacks were “an Israeli message to the meeting in Paris,” according to the AP.
“The fire belt of Israeli airstrikes is in honor of the meeting of the mechanism tomorrow,” Berri said at a parliament meeting in Beirut.
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On Wednesday, Israel said it killed a Hezbollah terrorist operating in southern Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the terrorist gathered intelligence on Israeli army activities in the area and “participated in Hezbollah’s efforts to restore its infrastructure.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
