The US has ordered all non-essential personal and families to leave Lebanon, with the State Department saying the decision was based on the increasingly uncertain stability in the region.
The concern with Lebanon is the risk of it getting dragged into the ongoing Israeli and US war against Iran, and given the ever-growing number of Israeli strikes inside Lebanon, it seems increasingly unlikely that Hezbollah will continue to sit on the sidelines.
Hezbollah and Israel just fought a brief war in late 2024, and though Hezbollah hasn’t attacked Israel since the November ceasefire, Israel has continued to launch thousands of attacks on Lebanon since then. Israel has also put the army on a higher level of alert at the border, citing the potential for attacks by Hezbollah because of the Iran War.
Israel continued carrying out strikes against southern Lebanon overnight and into Monday, hitting a van in Kfar Kila that was carrying scrap metal, and targeting the outskirts of a village in Marjeyoun District.
Israel also targeted sites north of the Litani River, claiming they hit Hezbollah rocket sites. Israeli officials didn’t offer evidence that’s what the targets were, but said their presence violated “the understandings” between Israel and Lebanon.
Even if the sites are rocket-related, it’s not clear they would’ve been in violation anyhow since they were north of the Litani River. The ceasefire only mandates the removal of Hezbollah facilities south of the river, though again, they also mandated a cessation of Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which plainly hasn’t happened.
And while Lebanon is trying to stay out of the Iran conflict, they’re seeing increasing spillover, including Israeli interceptors landing on Lebanese soil and setting fires totally unrelated to the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
