Israel army says strikes Hezbollah site in south Lebanon

The Israeli army said it carried out a strike on a site run by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Sunday.

“A short while ago, the IDF (army) struck military infrastructure, including underground infrastructure, at a Hezbollah site in which military activity was identified, in the area of the Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.

“The existence of the site and the activity within it constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” it added.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported intense strikes in the wooded area of Ali al-Taher, where fires were later declared, and in Al-Debsha, where serious damage was recorded.

According to NNA, jets fired “a large number of missiles”, with AFP images showing thick columns of smoke rising into the sky.

After the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel engaged in more than a year of hostilities that culminated in two months of open war last year.

Under a November ceasefire that sought to end the violence, Lebanon’s army has been deploying in the south and dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure with the support of UN peacekeepers.

Israel, however, has kept up its strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon despite the truce and has vowed to continue them until the militant group has been disarmed.

Under US pressure, Beirut has ordered the Lebanese army to draw up a plan to take away Hezbollah’s weapons by the end of the year, but the group has vowed to resist the effort.