Tensions are rising as Israeli forces launch near-daily attacks on Lebanon in violation of the 2024 Hezbollah ceasefire.
Israeli forces have attacked a village in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, local media outlets are reporting. Widespread Israeli growth concerns The government is pushing for the disarmament of the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
In a social media post on Thursday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adrai asked residents of the village of Sohmor to leave their homes ahead of a planned attack on a building it claimed was a “Hezbollah military infrastructure.”
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The military later said it was attacking several “Hezbollah sites” in Lebanon, without specifying exactly where the attacks were being carried out.
Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar TV said Israeli forces targeted two residential buildings in Sohmor.
Yet Israel has launched almost daily attacks on Lebanon Armistice Agreement With Hezbollah coming into effect in late 2024.
That Attacks have increased In recent months Israel and its main ally, the United States, have been pressuring the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.
last week, The Lebanese army said The first phase of a plan to bring under its control all weapons held by non-state actors between the Litani River in southern Lebanon and the Israeli border.
The military said on January 8 that it had established the kingdom’s arms monopoly in the south “in an effective and tangible way,” without specifically mentioning Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese cabinet has asked the military to provide information on how disarmament will progress in other parts of the country early next month.
A senior Hezbollah official warned the Lebanese government this week that attempts to disarm the group in Lebanon would lead to chaos and possible civil war.
Hezbollah has insisted that the disarmament push only applies to the southern region of Lebanon that borders Israel, refusing to release weapons elsewhere.
In an interview with Russian state media outlet RT, senior Hezbollah diplomatic official Mahmoud Qumati said on Wednesday that continuing the state’s arms monopoly further north would be “the biggest crime the state has committed”.
“The path taken by the Lebanese government and state institutions will lead Lebanon to instability, anarchy and possibly civil war,” Qamati said, although he added that Hezbollah would not be drawn into a conflict with the Lebanese army.
Hezbollah has argued that it should retain its weapons to deter Israel from seizing additional territory in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese army is ill-equipped to respond.
Israel has Army maintained in five areas of southern Lebanon, in violation of the 2024 ceasefire.
“There will be no discussion or dialogue about any situation north of the Litani River until Israel withdraws from all Lebanese territory, frees the south and prisoners, and ceases violations against Lebanon,” said Hezbollah official Qumati.
Reporting from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Thursday, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khoder explained that by targeting areas north of the Litani River for the offensive, the Israeli military was signaling that it had “shifted into the second phase of the disarmament plan”.
But the Lebanese army said “it will take time to put together a plan and will present it to the government next month”, Khoder said.
“Lebanese army sources (are) saying that it is very challenging, especially if Hezbollah refuses to cooperate with the army. And Hezbollah (is) making it clear that it will not cooperate with the army,” she explained.
