Israeli military operations claimed the lives of at least 12 people and left at least 30 others wounded in eastern and southern Lebanon on Friday, marking the most recent violations of a 2024 truce with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) confirmed that rescue teams continue to search for survivors amidst the debris.
Whilst the Israeli military maintained it hit “Hezbollah command centres” in the Baalbek region, a source within Hezbollah told AFP that the dead included a military leader from the group.
Earlier that day, an Israeli drone targeted the Hittin neighbourhood of Ein el-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. Ministry of Public Health reported that the strike, located on the periphery of Sidon, killed two people.
Israeli army released a statement claiming its forces “struck a Hamas command centre from which terrorists operated” in retaliation for “repeated violations of the ceasefire understandings”.
Hamas condemned the assault, stating it caused “civilian” casualties. NNA noted that the strike inflicted “significant damage” on a structure currently being used as a kitchen for food aid distribution. Although a joint Palestinian security force previously occupied the building, an individual had recently rented the space for humanitarian work.
This incident follows a lethal Israeli raid on Ein el-Hilweh in November 2025 which killed 13 people, including 11 children.
At the time, the military claimed it was targeting Hamas, an assertion the group dismissed as a “fabrication”, while stressing it maintains no training facilities within Lebanon’s refugee camps.
Despite the November 2024 ceasefire intended to end over a year of conflict, Israel has persisted with regular strikes.
United Nations data reveals that the Israeli military has launched more than 10,000 air and ground attacks since the truce began. UN rights office has verified at least 108 civilian fatalities resulting from these actions, including 16 children and 21 women.
In response to these persistent hostilities, Lebanon filed a formal complaint with the UN Security Council last month. Lebanese government is urging the international body to compel Israel to halt its attacks and complete a full withdrawal from the country.
Currently, Israel continues to occupy five Lebanese territories, which prevents tens of thousands of displaced citizens from returning and stalls the reconstruction of destroyed border villages.
In a separate escalation on Sunday, Israeli strikes near the Syrian border in eastern Lebanon killed four people. Israeli military stated it was targeting operatives from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
