Israel launches deadly airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley
Israeli accuses militant group of violating ceasefire terms reached late last year
Israeli strikes on Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Tuesday killed 12 people, the region's governor Bachir Khodr told Reuters, in the deadliest airstrikes since last year's truce ended months of fighting between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said earlier on Tuesday it had begun striking targets belonging to Hezbollah's elite unit, the Radwan Force, in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon.
"The Israel Defence Forces' strikes currently underway in Lebanon are a clear message to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which is plotting to rebuild raid capabilities against Israel through the Radwan Force," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, accusing the Iran-backed Islamist group of seeking to rebuild its forces in violation of a ceasefire agreement.
The strikes are also a message to the Lebanese government, which is responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement, he added.
Since Hamas's cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel in October 2023, Israel has carried out targeted strikes on Hezbollah as well as members of Palestinian factions in Lebanon. The group's longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed, along with several senior commanders.
Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire deal in November 2024, ending more than a year of fighting that had spilled over from Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.
The agreement calls for the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon and says that all "unauthorized arms" and military infrastructure should be dismantled, starting with southern Lebanon.
The group, designated a terrorist entity by countries such as Canada, has been under pressure in recent months both within Lebanon and from Washington to completely relinquish its weapons.
Hezbollah's difficulties have been compounded by seismic shifts in the regional power balance since Israel decimated its command and killed thousands of its fighters.
Hezbollah's Syrian ally, Bashar al-Assad, was toppled in December, severing a key arms supply line from Iran, which is now emerging from its own bruising exchanges of strikes with Israel.