Israel’s recent series of drone strikes on southern Lebanese towns, including Bint Jbeil, Shebaa, and Chaqra, has left one person dead and several others injured. These incidents mark an escalation despite a ceasefire agreement aimed at halting hostilities with the Lebanese group Hezbollah. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, the strikes involved an attack on a vehicle in Bint Jbeil’s Saf al-Hawa area, killing one and injuring two, with casualty numbers likely to increase. A subsequent strike in Bint Jbeil added to the destruction.
In Shebaa, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that an Israeli drone strike injured one person when a house was targeted. The town lies along Lebanon’s borders with Syria and the Golan Heights. Another attack on Chaqra in the Bint Jbeil District injured two residents. Although a US-mediated ceasefire on November 27 was intended to curb these hostilities, Israel has maintained almost daily assaults, citing the targeting of Hezbollah facilities and operatives.
Hezbollah, on its part, has admitted to only one retaliatory strike since the ceasefire, while Israel’s attacks have swept across southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, causing significant civilian distress. Recently, an Israeli assault on a vehicle near Beirut’s airport resulted in a fatality and three injuries, with Israel claiming the target was an individual connected to Iran. The ceasefire terms required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River and mandated an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, although Israel retains a presence in several key southern locations, insisting on continued military action until Hezbollah is disarmed. Since the ceasefire’s initiation, nearly 250 fatalities and over 600 injuries have resulted from Israeli operations.
An upcoming visit by a US envoy to Beirut aims to persuade Hezbollah to disarm, a proposal Hezbollah has rejected amidst continuous Israeli strikes. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has called for international intervention to halt Israeli aggression, emphasizing the complexity of the disarmament issue.
