Rabat — Today, October 23, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on the mountain range in the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon as well as the Hermel range in the country’s northeast. This comes in the context of Israel’s greater campaign of attacks on territories like Iran.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) claims that it targeted Hezbollah training and arms production sites.
The Lebanese government reported “violent strikes” and that at least two people died; neither they nor Hezbollah commented on Israel’s allegations of “terrorist” activity.
These strikes come in defiance of a ceasefire enacted in November of last year—which followed 14 months of conflict between Israel and Lebanon, devastating settlements along the UN-demarcated “Blue Line” that divides the two countries. The border remains under ongoing dispute.
Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire since it was established in 2024. They have also alleged that Lebanon, partially under the influence of Hezbollah, has engaged in terrorist activity during that time, thereby warranting Israeli strikes.
The Lebanese government is distinct from Hezbollah, although the group operates base camps dispersed among Lebanon’s southern region. The US has placed pressure on Lebanon to force Hezbollah to disarm.
The conflict between Israel and Lebanon traces back decades and mainly stems from the establishment of Hezbollah, which is staunchly anti-Israel.
The conflict has waged for over 40 years, though it reprised in earnest when Hezbollah fired on Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas’s attack on Israel and the subsequent start of Israel’s genocide on Gaza. Hezbollah framed its attacks thereafter as fighting in defense of Palestinian solidarity.
Conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has driven nearly 100,000 Israelis from their homes in the north of Israel and over 1.4 million Lebanese from their homes along the Blue Line.
Many have returned home since the ceasefire, but thousands continue to live in displacement.
Hezbollah has said that it will not cease its operations until Israel finished its genocide in Gaza, yet Israel has said that it will continue to fire on Hezbollah until its citizens can resettle Israel’s north. Nevertheless, Hezbollah and Israel were able to reach the ceasefire that was established last year with the help of third-party negotiators.
Since then, Israel has allegedly committed to indefinitely entrenching some of the IOF in “security zones” throughout Lebanon. Critics of the move describe Israel as “occupying” parts of Lebanon.
