Israel has stepped up attacks once again overnight on Wednesday and into Thursday, hitting targets in southern Lebanon as well as in the Beqaa Valley in the east. As is often the case, the IDF claimed that they were hitting Hezbollah weapon storage sites, though as is equally often the case, they provided no evidence to that effect.
Strikes were reported near the village of Yaroun, and Israeli ground troops also reported crossed the border and entered the village, destroying a residential building with explosives. They similarly went to the village of Khiam and destroyed another house.
There have been no reports of casualties in these latest strikes, and the IDF has yet to comment on the Beqaa Valley attacks, but did say that the presence of Hezbollah infrastructure which they claimed to attack was itself a violation of the ceasefire.
62-year old Ahmed Tarmous | image from X
We are also learning more about one of the late Monday Israeli strikes on the Lebanese border town of Tallouseh. The strike targeted a parked car and killed 62-year old Ahmad Tarmous. The IDF claimed Tarmous was a “Hezbollah terrorist” and that he was in some way the local liaison officer for Hezbollah in that village. Other reports suggest he was visiting family in that village at the time of his attack.
Tarmous’ relatives reported that minutes before the strike, he received a phone call from the Israeli forces, who asked if he would “prefer to die alone” or with his family in his home. Tarmous left the house immediately after the phone call and went to his car.
The report is that Tarmous warned a 13-year-old to get away from his car, and the IDF drone strike that killed him came shortly thereafter, before he had even started the car. The IDF has not offered evidence that Tarmous was in any way a prominent Hezbollah figure, but as with most assassinations they carry out within Lebanon, the Israeli press is reporting it as an absolute fact, citing the IDF allegations.
