At least 10 people died in Israeli air strikes on eastern Lebanon, the state media reports. Furthermore, as per the statement of the Israeli-backed militant group, a senior Hezbollah official was among those killed.
The Israeli military said it was targeting sites that belonged to the group in Bekaa Valley, allegedly consisting of “a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Meantime, it is imperative to note that the strikes were among the ‘deadliest’ in Lebanon since the end of the war between Israel and Hezbollah by ceasefire in November 2024.
The attack came hours after Israel launched a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The attack claimed the lives of two people while striking the densely populated camp located on the outskirts of the port city of Sidon. Israel has launched strikes almost daily on Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect in November 2024, which was followed by the 13 months of conflict.
The further risk is the US-brokered ceasefire agreed to in 2024 between Israel and Hezbollah, which was meant to stop more than a year of cross-border strikes that resulted in a full-scale war.
Officials from the United States and Israel have urged Lebanese authorities to rein in Hezbollah’s arsenal, intensifying diplomatic pressure on Beirut. Lebanese leaders, however, have cautioned that any expansion of Israeli strikes could further destabilize a country already grappling with deep political turmoil and a prolonged economic crisis.
In December 2025, Israel and Lebanon dispatched civilian envoys to the border town of Naqoura for their first direct talks in decades. Despite the diplomatic outreach, cross-border strikes have continued.
Ahead of this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement that said that the meeting “took place in a good atmosphere” and that it “was agreed that ideas would be formulated to advance possible economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”
