Israel's new airstrikes in Lebanon strain ceasefire, raising fears of wider war
By isabelle // 2025-12-10
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  • Israel intensifies airstrikes deep into Lebanon despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
  • The attacks target Hezbollah sites but kill civilians and damage homes.
  • A UN report notes extensive strikes and potential war crimes since the truce.
  • Border residents on both sides live in ruins, feeling abandoned and unsafe.
  • The strategy creates a deliberate deadlock, making diplomatic resolution impossible.
In a move that strains an already fragile truce, Israel launched a new wave of airstrikes deep into southern Lebanon this week, targeting sites it claims belong to the militant group Hezbollah. The attacks, which struck multiple locations up to 30 kilometers from the border, damaged homes and buildings and underscored an unsettling reality for war-torn communities on both sides of the frontier: There is no peace, only a temporary pause in the fighting. This latest escalation, justified by Israel as a response to ceasefire violations, begs the question of whether the state truly seeks stability or is committed to a permanent state of conflict. The strikes hit areas including Mount Safi, the town of Jbaa, and the Zefta Valley. Israel’s military stated it targeted a Hezbollah training compound and a rocket-launch site, framing the operation as a necessary response to threats. "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," the IDF said.

A ceasefire in name only

This aggression comes despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that has been in effect since November 2024. That agreement was meant to end more than a year of intense conflict that displaced tens of thousands. Yet, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon on a near-daily basis. A United Nations report released in November found that at least 127 Lebanese civilians, including children, have been killed since the ceasefire began. U.N. officials have warned these strikes may amount to "war crimes." Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signaled that the operations are "likely" to continue. "We are enforcing in Lebanon, without compromise, against any Hezbollah armament and any violation of the ceasefire," Smotrich said. He vowed that Israel would not stop until "terror infrastructure" is destroyed. This rhetoric suggests a policy of indefinite military engagement, not diplomatic resolution.

The human cost on the ground

The human cost of this unending cycle is etched into the landscape. In the northern Israeli town of Metula, pressed against the Lebanese border, resident Ilan Rosenfeld walks through the burnt-out shell of his cafe. "Everything I had, everything I saved, everything I built – it’s all burned," he said. Forced to evacuate during the war, he returned to find his livelihood destroyed and lives in a shelter next to the rubble. He feels abandoned. "The security situation is starting to deteriorate again," Rosenfeld said. "And where am I in all this? I can barely survive the day-to-day." Metula’s deputy mayor, Avi Nadiv, argues border residents have become Israel’s "human shield." While the government encourages people to return, promising safety and economic revival, the reality is different. Just over half of Metula’s residents have come back to a ghost town with 60% of homes damaged. Farmer Levav Weinberg, who returned with his young children, is skeptical. "The army cannot protect me and my family," he said. This latest military action fits a long-standing pattern where Israel prioritizes force over fulfillment of agreements. It accuses Lebanon of not disarming Hezbollah, yet continues actions that make any such political process impossible. Hezbollah, for its part, refuses to disarm while Israeli strikes and occupation persist. The result is a deliberate deadlock. The strikes also follow the recent Israeli assassination of Hezbollah’s top military commander in Beirut, a major provocation. With Hezbollah still weakened from last year’s fighting, it has not yet responded militarily to this latest barrage, but the tension is palpable. For the civilians caught in the middle, the promises of leaders ring hollow. On one side, Rosenfeld scans a government-distributed list of bomb shelters. On the other, villages in southern Lebanon lie in ruins from Israeli attacks. The ceasefire exists only on paper, shattered regularly by the sound of jets and explosions. The ongoing strikes reveal a fundamental truth often obscured by diplomatic language: peace cannot be built through bombardment. As long as the strategy is one of overwhelming force and rejected agreements, communities on both sides of the border will remain trapped in a nightmare, their dreams of home and security reduced to ashes and unanswered pleas for help. The path Israel is on offers no future, only an endless, destructive present. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com AlJazeera.com APNews.com
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