The Israeli military launched a wave of air strikes across several regions in Lebanon , in what Al Jazeera described as its latest near-daily violation of the November ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Al Jazeera reported at least seven air raids on towns in the Bekaa Valley and the mountainous Baalbek region in eastern and northeastern Lebanon, far from the southern border. Additional strikes targeted the Ghaziyeh area in southern Lebanon, igniting a fire at a warehouse.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed the operation, calling it a “violent renewed attack on the largest site for the production of precision missiles belonging to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” according to local broadcaster Channel 12.
The air raids struck areas including the outskirts of Brital and Nasiriyah towns in the Bekaa Valley, Tallet al-Sunduq, Jarmak in Jezzine, and the Mahmoudiya and Khardali regions.
On the same day, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun renewed his call for Hezbollah to hand over its weapons to the army, a demand long resisted by the group. “The extension of the Lebanese state’s authority over all its territory, the removal of weapons from all armed groups, including Hezbollah and their handover to the Lebanese army,” he said in a televised speech from the Defence Ministry.
“For the thousandth time, I assure you that my concern in having a [state] weapons monopoly comes from my concern to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty and borders, to liberate the occupied Lebanese territories and build a state that welcomes all its citizens,” Aoun added, addressing Hezbollah supporters as an “essential pillar” of society.
