Israel launches fresh strikes on south Lebanon after warnings

BEIRUT: Israeli raids hit south Lebanon on Thursday as Israel’s military said it was striking Hezbollah targets, a day after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.

The visit from Sunday to Tuesday of Pope Leo XIV had provided Lebanon with a window of reprieve from Israeli air strikes, which had intensified in recent weeks, and the pontiff urged an end to hostilities during his visit.

But on Thursday, the Israeli army said it “began conducting strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon”, after warning it would strike buildings in south Lebanon’s Mahrouna and Jbaa.

It subsequently issued warnings it would strike further Hezbollah “military infrastructure” in Majadal and Baraasheet, also in the south.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said “Israeli warplanes launched a strike on the town of Mahrouna” while other raids targeted buildings in Jbaa, Majadal and Baraasheet.

An AFP photographer saw smoke rising from the site of the strike in the town of Jbaa.

Lebanon’s government has committed to disarming Hezbollah but the group has rejected the idea and many in the country fear a return to expanded Israeli military operations.

Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held surprise talks Wednesday under the auspices of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in Lebanon’s Naqura near the border with Israel.

Representatives of the ceasefire monitoring committee — the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel and the UN force — regularly convene in Naqura.

Lebanon and Israel have technically been at war since 1948, and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam cautioned the new diplomatic contact did not amount to broader peace discussions.

The United States has been piling pressure on Lebanon to rapidly disarm Hezbollah, and has pushed for direct talks between the two neighbours.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the atmosphere at the talks was “positive”, and that there had been agreement “to develop ideas to promote potential economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon”.

Israel also made it clear it was “essential” that Lebanese militant group Hezbollah disarm regardless of any progress in economic cooperation, the premier’s office added.

Salam said the new discussions were strictly limited to fully implementing last year’s truce.

“We are not yet at peace talks,” he told journalists, including AFP, on Wednesday.

He said the talks only sought “the cessation of hostilities”, the “release of Lebanese hostages” and “the complete Israeli withdrawal” from Lebanon.

Until now, Israel and Lebanon, which have no formal diplomatic relations, have insisted on limiting participation in the ceasefire mechanism to military officers.