An Israeli strike on Iqlim al-Tuffah, in southern Lebanon, on Jan. 9, 2026. (Photo sent to L'Orient Today by residents)
SOUTH LEBANON — Israel launched heavy bombardment of the area in southern Lebanon that sits north of the Litani River on Friday, escalating its aggression in the same area where the second phase of the Lebanese Army's mission to disarm Hezbollah will soon take place.
Israel claimed it was bombing military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah, including a weapons manufacturing site and storage facilities, however it did not provide evidence to back up its claims and its attacks also circumvent the cease-fire monitoring committee mandated by the truce agreement to process any accusation of violations of the cease-fire.
These latest bombardments follow what has become a nearly non-stop string of Israeli attacks on Lebanon that have killed nearly 400 people since the ostensible cease-fire came into effect in November 2024.
The Israeli air force launched 15 air raids in less than 30 minutes in five different areas within the region between the Litani and Awali rivers. These attacks were then followed by strikes in the districts of Jezzine, Nabatieh, and Saida.
In Jezzine district, the Israeli army hit the outskirts of the villages of Sojod and Rihan, the heights of Jabbour. In Nabatieh district, the area of Iqlim al-Tuffah between Kfar Fila and Ain Qana, was struck twice. Also in Nabatieh district, Israel bombed an area between Deir al-Zahrani and Houmin Fawqa, and in Saida district, the Tebna/Baissarieh region, south of the city of Saida, was bombed.
Bombings were conducted simultaneously on the heights of Brital and near Wadi Qaliya in the Bekaa, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the Bekaa. No immediate information was available about casualties from these raids, which mostly hit wooded and non-residential areas.
Hezbollah military infrastructure
All these areas are regularly targeted by the Israeli military, which said it had struck "a weapons manufacturing site, storage facilities, and missile launch platforms" belonging to Hezbollah, according to a post on X by the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee.
Israel claims these sites were used by Hezbollah to "reconstitute its capabilities and arsenal."
On Thursday, the Lebanese Army announced that it had completed the first phase of its plan to establish a state monopoly on arms, which is focused primarily on Hezbollah, considered until the latest war with Israel to have been among the most powerful non-state actors in the world.
The Cabinet tasked the army with preparing the second phase of the disarmament plan, details of which will be presented to the Cabinet in February.
Despite of the work underway and the progress already made, Israel has insisted on continuing its aggression against Lebanon, accusing it of moving too slowly in its disarmament of Hezbollah. Hezbollah has refrained from retaliating to all of Israel's attacks and while it cooperated with is disarmament south of the Litani, the party has consistently opposed its nationwide disarmament so long as Israeli attacks continue.
French President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, said the army's work was "encouraging" and that "this process must continue."
"The second phase of the plan will be a decisive step," he wrote in a statement posted to his X account. France brokered the November 2024 truce agreement alongside the U.S. and is militarily represented in the cease-fire monitoring committee.
The bombings on Friday afternoon also took place just hours after President Joseph Aoun met Simon Karam, Lebanon’s civilian representative to the cease-fire monitoring committee. Karam represents the first direct negotiations with Israel.
Aoun and Karam's meeting included preparations for the next committee meeting, scheduled for Jan. 17, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency. The committee had met Wednesday without civilian representatives and, unlike previous meetings, the U.S. embassy in Beirut did not release a official statement afterward.
