Israel army strikes Lebanon Hezbollah sites

Jerusalem (AFP) — Israel’s military said it carried out strikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday, targeting a training compound and other sites operated by Hezbollah.

“A short while ago, the IDF (Israeli military) struck infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in several areas in southern Lebanon,” it said in a statement.

According to the Israeli military, the operation hit “a training and qualification compound used by Hezbollah’s Radwan Force” as well as “military structures and a launch site belonging to Hezbollah.”

“The targets that were struck, and the military training conducted in preparation for attacks against the State of Israel, constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and a threat to the State of Israel,” it added.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas.

Israel has mainly said it is targeting Hezbollah.

Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon’s government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army is set to dismantle the group’s military infrastructure near the border by year end before tackling the rest of the country.

On Saturday, a United Nations Security Council delegation urged all parties to uphold the year-old ceasefire.

In other developments, Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday that Israel was responsible for nearly half of all journalists killed this year worldwide, with 29 Palestinian reporters slain by its forces in Gaza.

In its annual report, the Paris-based media freedom group said the total number of journalists killed reached 67 globally this year, slightly up from the 66 killed in 2024.

Israeli forces accounted for 43 percent of the total, making them “the worst enemy of journalists,” RSF said in its report, which documented deaths over 12 months from December 2024.

The most deadly single attack was a so-called “double-tap” strike on a hospital in south Gaza on 25 August, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press.