Israeli strikes hit Lebanon after evacuation warnings

Published November 20, 2025
Tair Filsay (south Lebanon): Flames and smoke erupt from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a home in this Lebanese village. The Israeli military launched strikes on two towns, claiming it was targeting Hezbollah after warning civilians of the impending attacks.—AFP
Tair Filsay (south Lebanon): Flames and smoke erupt from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a home in this Lebanese village. The Israeli military launched strikes on two towns, claiming it was targeting Hezbollah after warning civilians of the impending attacks.—AFP

BEIRUT: The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah ‘weapons storage facilities’ in several south Lebanon towns on Wednesday, and accused the group of rebuilding its capabilities close to the border.

The Israeli military has kept up frequent air strikes in Lebanon in spite of a ceasefire sealed last November that sought to end more than a year of hostilities.

The latest raids came a day after 13 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, the deadliest attack since the truce came into effect.

Israel’s military claimed that it had struck “several weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s rocket unit in southern Lebanon”, calling such sites “a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon”.

It had previously warned residents to evacuate the area around sites in the southern Lebanese towns of Deir Kifa, Shehur, Ainata and Tayr Felsay.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) later said raids hit all four locations.

In Deir Kifa, Lebanese soldiers deployed near the targeted building, which collapsed after the strike. Freballs and smoke erupted after the raid.

In its evacuation warnings on X, the Israeli military had said it would strike Hezbollah “military infrastructure... in response to Hezbollah’s prohibited attempts to rebuild its activities in the area”.

In a subsequent statement, the military singled out the town of Beit Lif, just a few kilometres from the Israeli border.

It accused Hezbollah of rebuilding “dozens of infrastructure sites in the area of the village, including headquarters and weapons storage facilities”, some inside civilian homes.

Lebanon says Israel is violating the truce with its strikes, and by maintaining troops in five areas of the country’s south.

Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli attacks, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah, but the group has rejected the idea of handing over its weapons.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2025

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