Israel carries out overnight incursion into Lebanon as Aoun reiterates aim of disarming Hezbollah

Israeli forces carried out a ground incursion into southern Lebanon overnight on Thursday, with tanks and armoured vehicles crossing the border in the Wadi Hounine area.

The incursions, targeting the villages of Aalma al-Shaab and Dhayra, come despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah being in place since 27 November.

The Israeli army has also maintained a presence in southern Lebanon despite the truce, prompting Hezbollah to insist it will not disarm while Israeli forces remain in the country.

Earlier this week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated his aim of seeing Hezbollah lay down its weapons.

"We hope that Hezbollah's weapons will be withdrawn or that their possession will be restricted to the state in 2025, and this is what I am striving for," Aoun was quoted by The New Arab’s Arabic-language service, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, as saying.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army said it had killed 140 Hezbollah members since the beginning of the ceasefire. Earlier this month, the office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 71 of those killed by Israel since November were civilians.

Human Rights Watch accused Israel on Wednesday of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Lebanon, saying that evidence increasingly shows repeated violations of international law. The US-based rights watchdog also accused the Israeli army of failing to distinguish between military and civilian targets during the recent conflict with Hezbollah.

"More and more evidence is emerging that Israeli forces repeatedly failed to protect civilians or adequately distinguish civilians from military targets during its strikes across Lebanon in 2023 and 2024," Ramzi Kaiss,  HRW’s Lebanon researcher said.

"Lebanon’s government should provide a path for justice for grieving families, including by giving the International Criminal Court jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes."