Israel carries out strikes on Lebanon despite ceasefire, renewed negotiations

Israel carried out a series of strikes on areas of southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa Valley on Friday morning, despite the beginning of a new round of negotiations with Beirut through the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Committee.

Israeli warplanes targeted Jarmak, Rihan, Brij-Jbaa, Ansar Zrarieh, Tibna, and Wadi Houmin, as well as the Hima area of the Bekaa Valley.

Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah training camps - a claim it has often made while continuing to strike Lebanon despite a ceasefire deal that was struck in November 2024.

The army said on Friday it had "struck a training and qualification compound" used by Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force where operatives "underwent shooting exercises and additional training on the use of various types of weapons".

Israel has carried out daily strikes on Lebanon, with UN peacekeeping forces also coming under Israeli fire this week.

Under the terms of the 2024 ceasefire deal, Israel was required to withdraw from Lebanon as the Lebanese army deployed in the south. Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometres from the border with Israel, and have its military infrastructure there dismantled.

The sites struck on Friday were generally north of the river.

On Thursday, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon's army had implemented "90 percent" of the ceasefire terms in the area south of the Litani River, and would complete the remaining provisions by the end of the year. Berri noted that this had been confirmed by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the Mechanism, and the commander of the Lebanese army.

Under a government-approved plan, Lebanon's army is to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure south of the Litani by the end of the year, before tackling the rest of the country.