IDF says it hit Hezbollah sites after ceasefire monitors failed to address threats

Military says it notified international truce mechanism about issues, but no action was taken; targets in Lebanon included rocket launcher, smuggling routes from Syria

Unverified footage carried by Lebanese media purports to show Israeli airstrikes near Deir Zahrani, in the Nabatieh District, January 12, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Unverified footage carried by Lebanese media purports to show Israeli airstrikes near Deir Zahrani, in the Nabatieh District, January 12, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it had struck several Hezbollah sites in Lebanon overnight, saying the targets violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement. It said said it did so after the international ceasefire monitoring mechanism failed to address them, despite being advised on the matter.

Targets included a rocket launcher, an unspecified military site, and “routes along the Syria-Lebanon border used to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah,” the military said in a statement.

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group came into effect on November 27, after over a year of cross-border Hezbollah attacks and two months after Israel launched a devastating campaign against the terror group.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli aircraft targeted the outskirts of Janta in the eastern Baalbek region, as well as areas near Nabatieh in the south. It did not say whether there were casualties.

The IDF said that before the strikes, it made the Hezbollah violations known to an international mechanism set up as part of the ongoing ceasefire, but “the threats weren’t addressed.”

“The IDF continues to act to remove any threat to the State of Israel and will operate to prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to rebuild its forces in accordance with the ceasefire understandings,” the IDF added.

Lebanese media reported Israeli airstrikes in the village of Houmine al-Faouqa, in the Nabatieh District.

The village is located north of the Litani River, some 17 kilometers (some 10.5 miles) from Israel’s border.

Additional media reports said there were airstrikes in the Janta area in the Beqaa Valley, close to the border with Syria.

Under the terms of the agreement, which has a January 26 deadline, the Iran-backed terror group is to withdraw north of the Litani River — some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border with Israel — while Israel must withdraw from southern Lebanon by January 26, to be replaced by the Lebanese Armed Forces and international peacekeeping force UNIFIL.

Washington has reportedly assured Beirut that Israel will complete the withdrawal in time, and the LAF said Saturday that it had finished deploying in south Lebanon’s western sector following Israel’s withdrawal there.

 

On Sunday the Kan public broadcaster reported that Israeli troops sweeping areas under IDF control have repeatedly found concealed Hezbollah weapons, including mortars and anti-tank missiles.

Israeli officials have reportedly indicated that the IDF could stay in south Lebanon past the deadline for withdrawal, if the Lebanese army does not replace the Israeli presence there quickly enough. The IDF has also accused the Lebanese Armed Forces of failing to accede to a request to act against Hezbollah missile launchers situated in south Lebanon, in violation of the agreement, prompting it to strike the launchers.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati insisted Friday that the state would start disarming Lebanon’s south, and on Thursday, new Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pledged in his inauguration speech that the state would hold a monopoly on power — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah, which has long acted with impunity.

Troops of the 300th Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on January 8, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on a near-daily basis on October 8, 2023, a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

Israel signed the ceasefire with Hezbollah two months after it escalated operations against the terror group, all but decimating its leadership, in a bid to stem its persistent rocket fire, which had forced the displacement of some 60,000 northerners.

Most have not yet returned to their homes.

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