An Israeli drone attack has killed at least one person and injured three near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health says, the latest violation of the ceasefire between the two countries.

The air raid on Thursday hit a vehicle on a busy motorway in the Khaldeh area, about 12km (8 miles) south of Beirut.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

The Israeli military said it targeted “military sites and weapons depots” in the area.

Bombing an area near the Lebanese capital marks another escalation by Israel, which has been carrying out near-daily bombardment in Lebanon since it reached a truce with Hezbollah in November of last year.

The identities of the victims of the attack have not been released.

Reporting from outside Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr noted that the Israeli air raid took place during rush hour, with many people making their way from Beirut to south Lebanon.

“Israel is also acting with little restraint. The Lebanese state wants these attacks to stop, but the state has little leverage. Hezbollah, too, if it does respond, could trigger a harsh Israeli retaliation,” Khodr said.

“We don’t see a wide-scale Israeli bombardment like we saw last year, targeting areas where Hezbollah has influence, but we see these attacks happening almost on a daily basis.”

Later on Thursday, the Israeli military carried out a wave of air strikes across south Lebanon, with heavy bombardment targeting the outskirts of Zawtar al-Charqiyeh, near Nabatieh, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported.

Advertisement

Lebanese officials often condemn such attacks and call on the United States and France – the two sponsors of last year’s ceasefire – to pressure Israel to end its violations.

But diplomatic efforts have failed to stem the ceasefire breaches, amid unwillingness by the US and its Western allies to hold Israel to account.

The repeated Israeli attacks are testing Hezbollah’s position in Lebanon after it suffered painful blows in its confrontation with Israel last year.

The Iran-allied group started attacking Israeli military positions at the border in October 2023, in what it said was a “support front” to help bring an end to the war on Gaza.

For months, the conflict remained largely confined to the border region, but in September of last year, Israel launched an all-out assault on Lebanon that destroyed large parts of the country, especially areas where Hezbollah enjoys support.

The Israeli military also assassinated the group’s top political and military leaders, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

A ceasefire was reached in November, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a previous conflict in 2006.

The truce stipulated that Hezbollah must withdraw its forces to the north of the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

But after the truce came into effect, Israel continued to occupy parts of south Lebanon in violation of the agreement, and it has been carrying out attacks across the country.

Weakened by the war, Hezbollah has refrained from responding. The Lebanese Armed Forces have also failed to hit back against Israel.

The latest strike in Khaldeh comes amid Lebanese media reports about a US proposal that would see Hezbollah disarm in exchange for an end to Israel’s attacks and a full withdrawal from the country.

But Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem appeared to dismiss any agreement to give up the group’s weapons that would involve Israel.

“We are a group that cannot be driven to humiliation. We will not give up our land. We will not give up our arms to the Israeli enemy,” Qassem said. “And we will not accept to be threatened into concessions.”

Qassem previously warned that Hezbollah’s “patience” in allowing the Lebanese state to deal with the Israeli attacks diplomatically may run out.

But given the cost of the previous war on Hezbollah’s military structure as well as its civilian base, it is not clear whether the group is in a position to renew the conflict with Israel.

Advertisement