The ongoing escalation of Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory seems to be picking up the pace today, with a number of high-profile strikes reported against both southern Lebanon and the northeastern part of the nation.
The earliest strike was against the southern town of Taybeh, where Israel claims it targeted “a Hezbollah terrorist” but offered no evidence that was the case. Four people were reported wounded in that incident, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The bigger attacks were near Hermel, in the northeast, hitting multiple sites around Mount Rihan. The IDF claimed these strikes targeted Hezbollah training camps and weapon storage, though once again provided no evidence that was the case.
Israel conducts strikes on southern Lebanon on a virtually daily basis, but also hits the northeast, near the Lebanon-Syria border, intermittently, arguing that the area’s former use in weapons smuggling makes it a major Hezbollah location.
That said, the IDF attacks the northeast so often, and claims undocumented training camps or major weapons storage were hit so often that it beggars belief. Hezbollah is believed to retain a presence in that area, but its unthinkable that so many enormous, secret facilities could possibly exist.
Israel continues to escalate strikes on the narrative that Hezbollah is trying to rebuild its infrastructure after the 2024 Israeli invasion. Western media are tying this to a US imposed deadline for Hezbollah to be entirely disarmed by year’s end,
Though some Israeli officials have given some credence to that deadline, which is virtually impossible for the Lebanese Army to meet during ongoing Israeli attacks, other Israeli sources are quoted as saying they believe the deadline has no impact on their use of force in Lebanon.
That has been obvious. Since the ceasefire went into effect in November of 2024, Israel has carried out thousands of strikes on Lebanon, despite Hezbollah so far not firing a single rocket at Israel. The US was meant to be the guarantor of that ceasefire, but thus far has only pressured Lebanon to accept direct talks with Israel. Lebanon, for their part, has endorsed the idea of talks, though Israel is so far refusing.
