Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has issued a stern condemnation of Israel’s latest military operations within Lebanese territory, characterizing them as deliberate attempts to sabotage ongoing diplomatic initiatives aimed at stabilizing the region. The presidential statement followed a series of targeted Israeli airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon conducted on Monday, which Israeli defense authorities claim successfully neutralized strategic assets belonging to Hezbollah and Hamas militant groups.
The military campaign commenced with precision strikes on four villages where Israel had previously issued evacuation advisories. However, subsequent bombardments—including a pre-dawn operation on Tuesday in the Ghazieh area near Sidon—were executed without prior warning. According to field reports from AFP correspondents, these strikes resulted in significant structural damage, triggering substantial fires that required emergency response teams to contain.
President Aoun emphasized that these aggressive actions directly contradict Lebanon’s demonstrated willingness to engage with international mediation efforts. Despite the year-long ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, cross-border tensions have persisted with regular Israeli incursions into Lebanese airspace, typically justified as countermeasures against alleged terrorist infrastructure.
The Israeli military command released an official statement confirming Tuesday’s operations targeted dual-purpose facilities allegedly serving both Hezbollah and Hamas organizations. These included sophisticated weapon storage complexes and military installations employing both surface and subterranean construction designs.
This escalation occurs amid preparations for a critical meeting of the multinational ceasefire monitoring committee—comprising representatives from the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel, and the United Nations—scheduled for Wednesday. Simultaneously, Lebanon’s cabinet is convening to review progress on the contentious Hezbollah disarmament initiative, implemented under significant international pressure particularly from Washington.
The Lebanese Armed Forces had been expected to complete weapons collection operations south of the Litani River (approximately 30 kilometers from the Israeli border) by December 2025 before expanding the program nationwide. President Aoun praised the military’s professional execution of this mandate, though Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar previously dismissed these efforts as fundamentally inadequate during diplomatic exchanges on Sunday.