BEIRUT — Israeli jets launched four airstrikes against eastern and southern Lebanon shortly before 11 p.m. on Thursday, targeting the villages of Nabi Sheet, about 4.5 kilometers from the border with Syria, and Janta, about 1.5 kilometers south of Nabi Sheet, both in the Baalbeck-Hermel district.

The Anti-Lebanon Mountains were also targeted as was a valley in the Nabatieh region of southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army has struck the Lebanese-Syria border several times since the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on Nov. 27, 2023, ending 11 months of cross border attacks and an additional two months of all out war. The cease-fire's terms were meant to have been fully implemented by Jan. 26, 2024, but the Israeli army requested, and received, an extension until Feb. 18, allowing it to continue occupying villages in southern Lebanon.

Israel has regularly accused Hezbollah of violating the cease-fire while itself facing accusations of more than 800 violations, including airstrikes, shelling, gunfire, demolitions, and the killing of more than 50 people, including more than 20 civilians at point-blank range.

“It was terrifying. Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone can stop Israel anymore,” Saniya Moussawi, who lives in Nabi Sheet, told L'Orient Today following the Thursday evening strikes. She added that she believes Hezbollah is “not going to retaliate.”

She added that her two young children woke up in a panic after the strike. But she calmed them by assuring them that "the strikes were very far away ... even though they only hit two blocks away."

A source from the Israeli army told the Israeli army radio that the air force had struck southern Lebanon and "deep" into Lebanese territory due to Hezbollah's "violations" of the cease-fire and "attempts to smuggle weapons" across the border from Syria.

Hezbollah was known to have received weapon supplies from its backer, Iran, through Syria, under the former Syrian Assad family regime, which was also allied with Iran. However, Hezbollah acknowledged earlier in January that its military supply route was cut off after Syrian opposition forces, led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad in early December.

Reporting contributed by L'Orient Today's correspondents Sarah Abdallah and Muntasser Abdallah.