Israel attacks Lebanon

In 2025, Israel carried out thousands of attacks in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, with at least 10,600 attacks recorded across multiple countries including Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Qatar.

Deadly Israeli air strike is latest in Israel’s near-daily violations of 2024 ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

At least three people have been killed in an Israeli attack near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, the country’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting, in the latest Israeli breach of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said on Monday that the three people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a vehicle on Quneitra Road in the southern Sidon district, according to NNA.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it had targeted Hezbollah members in the Sidon area, without providing further details.

The deadly strikes come a day after another Israeli attack on southern Lebanon on Sunday killed one person and wounded two others. The Israeli army said it killed a Hezbollah member in that attack.

Israel has repeatedly violated the November 2024 ceasefire agreement with the Lebanese group, carrying out near-daily attacks across Lebanon, particularly in the south, that have drawn widespread condemnation.

Between January and late November, Israeli forces carried out nearly 1,600 strikes across Lebanon, according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

Late last month, the United Nations said at least 127 civilians had been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect, prompting a call from the United Nations human rights office for a “prompt and impartial” investigation.

Delegations meet in southern Lebanon

Israel’s attacks have continued despite the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, which includes provisions for Hezbollah’s disarmament in parts of southern Lebanon and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Lebanon was close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah in the area south of the Litani River.

That is a key provision of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which designates the zone between the Litani River and the Israeli border as an area where only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers are permitted to operate.

Hezbollah has long rejected calls for full disarmament, saying its weapons are necessary to defend Lebanon against Israeli attacks and occupation.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has consistently said the group will end its military presence south of the Litani River in line with the ceasefire, but insists it will retain its weapons elsewhere in Lebanon.

Under the 2024 ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces were also required to withdraw fully from southern Lebanon, south of the Litani River, by January. But Israeli troops have only partially pulled back and continue to maintain a military presence at five border outposts inside Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah officials have previously said the group would not fully implement its commitments under the ceasefire while Israeli forces remain deployed in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, a committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement continues to hold talks in southern Lebanon as Israel and the United States increase pressure on Hezbollah to disarm.

Civilian and military delegations from Israel and Lebanon met in the southern town of Naqoura on Friday in closed-door discussions.

Following the talks, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with diplomat Simon Karam, who has been appointed as Lebanon’s chief civilian negotiator.

Hezbollah has been critical of the appointment of Karam, who has previously served as the ambassador of Lebanon to the US.

In a statement, the Lebanese presidency said Aoun stressed that enabling tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese civilians to return to their villages and homes was “an entry point for addressing all other details” of the agreement.

Aoun said the committee’s next meeting is scheduled for January 7.

He also welcomed a separate diplomatic agreement reached in Paris between the US, France and Saudi Arabia to organise an international conference in early 2026 to support the Lebanese army and internal security forces.

The PM says the part of the plan on south of the Litani River is ‘only days away from completion’.

Lebanon is close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah in the south of the Litani River before a year-end deadline as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, according to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

Saturday’s statement comes as the country races to fulfil the key demand in the US-backed deal agreed in November last year and ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The agreement requires the disarmament of the Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group, starting in areas south of the river adjacent to Israel.

Lebanese authorities, led by President Joseph Aoun and Salam, tasked the US-backed Lebanese army on August 5 with devising a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year.

“Prime Minister Salam affirmed that the first phase of the weapons consolidation plan related to the area south of the Litani River is only days away from completion,” a statement from his office said.

“The state is ready to move on to the second phase – namely [confiscating weapons] north of the Litani River – based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army pursuant to a mandate from the government,” Salam added.

Committee meeting

The statement came after Salam held talks with Simon Karam, Lebanon’s top civilian negotiator on a committee overseeing the Hezbollah-Israel truce.

In a meeting on Friday, the committee focused on how to return displaced people to their homes, addressing civilian issues to help prevent renewed war if the year-end deadline to disarm Hezbollah is not met.

The 15th meeting of the committee reflected a longstanding US push to broaden talks between the sides beyond monitoring the 2024 ceasefire.

At Friday’s meeting in the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura, civilian participants discussed steps to support safe returns of residents uprooted by the 2023-24 war and advance economic reconstruction, the US Embassy in Beirut said.

Since the ceasefire, Israeli warplanes have repeatedly targeted parts of Lebanon, mostly southern Lebanon, but sometimes even the capital.

Israel says it is questioning the Lebanese army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim armed group, has tried to resist the pressure – from its mainly Christian and Sunni Muslim opponents in Lebanon as well as from the US and Saudi Arabia – to disarm, saying it would be a mistake while Israel continues its air strikes on the country.

Israel has publicly urged Lebanese authorities to fulfil the conditions of the truce, saying it will act “as necessary” if Lebanon fails to take steps against Hezbollah.