Israel carried out airstrikes on five towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday, shortly after instructing residents to evacuate, according to AFP, citing Lebanese state media and the Israeli army.

 

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that one of the strikes hit Mais al-Jabal, a border town heavily damaged in last year’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The Lebanese health ministry confirmed that one person was injured. Reports also noted that Israeli forces have stationed troops in five key positions in the south.

 

President Joseph Aoun strongly condemned the attacks, criticising both the strikes and what he described as “the silence of the countries that sponsored the ceasefire,” which he argued only fuels more violence. “The time has come to put an immediate stop to these blatant violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” Aoun said.

 

The Israeli Defense Forces, in their statement, said the strikes were aimed at weapons storage sites operated by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit. The military added it would “continue operations to remove any threat” posed to Israel. Prior to launching the strikes, the IDF had issued “immediate” evacuation warnings to residents of the targeted towns.