Israel strikes hit southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah; no casualties reported as tensions persist

Israeli air strikes hit southern Lebanon, targeting positions and infrastructure it said belonged to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the Israeli military said. The strikes came after evacuation warnings were issued for several villages and, at least for now, there were no immediate reports of casualties, according to BBC News.

Footage posted online showed large plumes of smoke over Mais al-Jabal, one of the locations hit, as the strikes unfolded in the area near the border.

An Israeli military spokesman described the targets as Hezbollah infrastructure in response to the group's attempts to re-establish activity in the area and provided no evidence to back up the claim. IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said the forces had attacked and raided Hezbollah weapons warehouses, whose presence he said violated the understandings between Israel and Lebanon. He earlier warned residents to evacuate buildings in Mais al-Jabal, Kfar Tibnit and Debbin, and later in two additional villages.

Lebanon's prime minister Nawaf Salam said on X that the country remained committed to ceasing hostile actions but asked where Israel's commitment to the ceasefire mechanisms lay. He urged the international community to exert maximum pressure on Israel to stop its aggressions, to withdraw from Lebanese territory and to release prisoners.

The strikes come as part of a broader, US- and France-brokered ceasefire reached after fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a framework that Lebanon says it will enforce. The accord states that Lebanon will 'prevent Hezbollah and all other armed groups in the territory of Lebanon from carrying out any operations against Israel,' while Israel pledged not to carry out offensive operations against Lebanese targets inside Lebanon.

Lebanon's government has tasked the army with establishing a state monopoly on arms, a move Hezbollah has said it will disregard, highlighting the fragility of the arrangement and the ongoing risk of escalation along the border.

BBC notes that Israeli air strikes targeting Hezbollah-linked sites have occurred on a near-daily basis since the end of the war with the group in November, underscoring the unresolved tensions despite the ceasefire.

At the time of the report, there were no immediate casualty tallies. Western powers continue to press for adherence to the ceasefire while Lebanese officials seek to curb armed activity and the potential for renewed fighting.