By Al Jazeera Staff and News Agencies
Nov 6, 2025
‘We reaffirm our legitimate right to defend ourselves against an enemy that imposes war on our country’, Hezbollah says.
Featured Image: People gather at the site of an Israeli drone attack on a vehicle in the southern Lebanese village of Doueir near Nabatieh, on November 3, 2025 [Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP]
At least one person has been killed and nine injured in a series of Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon, ratcheting up tensions and drawing condemnation from both the Lebanese government and the armed group Hezbollah as a flagrant violation of a one-year-old ceasefire.
The Israeli military said that it targeted alleged Hezbollah military installations on Thursday, accusing the group of refusing to disarm in accordance with an agreement reached last year. Israel has carried out near-daily strikes despite the truce, and Hezbollah has said that it is committed to the ceasefire agreement but will not disarm so long as Israel continues to routinely attack Lebanese territory.
“What Israel committed today in southern Lebanon constitutes a full-fledged crime under international humanitarian law, which criminalises the targeting, terrorising, and forced displacement of civilians,” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement.
“Nearly a year has passed since the ceasefire took effect, and during that period Israel has spared no effort in showing its rejection of any negotiated settlement between the two countries,” he added.
The barrage on Thursday came soon after a separate Israeli raid targeted southern Lebanon’s Tyre district.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that a Lebanese man was killed and eight others wounded in the town of Toura, where Israeli warplanes struck residential areas. Another man was additionally injured in attacks on Tayr Debba, also in the Tyre District, according to NNA.
“These strikes have been happening near daily for a year now, since that ceasefire came into force,” Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr reported from Beirut.
“But today it is being seen as an escalation, especially since it’s coming just hours after Hezbollah released an open letter to the country’s leadership and to the Lebanese people. These strikes are being seen as a message from Israel to Hezbollah.”
An Israeli warplane was also reported to fly at a low altitude over Beirut’s southern suburbs, an Israeli practice seen as a form of intimidation.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said that Israel’s strikes threaten civilians and undermine efforts by the Lebanese military to assert control over “unathorized weapons and infrastructure” in southern Lebanon, a likely reference to Hezbollah.
The United States has pressured Lebanon to do more to disarm the group, but has done little to discourage Israel’s near-constant ceasefire violations.
“Any military action, especially on such a destructive scale, threatens the safety of civilians and undermines the progress being made toward a political and diplomatic solution,” UNIFIL said.
The attacks come as Hezbollah issued a firm rejection of any political negotiations with Israel, saying such talks would “not serve the national interest”. The statement followed mounting pressure from the US and Egypt for Lebanon to begin direct dialogue with Israel, the AFP news agency reported. Al Jazeera could not independently verify those claims.
“We reaffirm our legitimate right to defend ourselves against an enemy that imposes war on our country and does not cease its attacks,” Hezbollah said, referring to ongoing Israeli air raids despite a ceasefire agreed to in November 2024.
Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war, with communication limited to a United Nations-backed monitoring mechanism involving France and the US. The two sides meet separately under UN auspices but do not engage in direct talks.
Israel threatens Lebanon with more strikes
Despite reaffirming its commitment to the ceasefire, Hezbollah accused Israel of exploiting Lebanon’s internal divisions and continuing its attacks under the pretext of security operations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, warned last week that Israel could intensify operations in Lebanon. Defence Minister Israel Katz echoed the threat, saying, “Maximum enforcement will continue and even intensify – we will not allow any threat to the residents of the north.”
Absent pressure from the US, Israel has been able to decide what constitutes a ceasefire violation and carry out corresponding attacks as it pleases, giving it a free hand to carry out frequent attacks with few restraints.
“There will be a cabinet meeting later this evening in Israel to discuss all the war fronts, but the posture, as far as Israel is concerned, is the same,” Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Odeh reported from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. “It is deciding whether Hamas is complying and whether Hezbollah is complying. It is monitoring all those fronts and taking measures as it sees fit.”
The entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, another key aspect of that agreement, also continues to be restricted by Israel to levels far below what was agreed. Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Thursday that Israel has denied 107 Gaza aid requests since the start of the truce on October 10.
In Lebanon, President Aoun has condemned Israel for ramping up its attacks after he signalled willingness to discuss de-escalation. The Lebanese government, under heavy US pressure, has ordered the army to draft a plan to disarm Hezbollah – a move the group condemned as “hasty” and dangerous.
Last week, Aoun instructed the armed forces to confront any further Israeli incursion in the country’s south after Israeli forces crossed their shared border and killed a municipal worker during an overnight raid.
The Lebanese forces, unlike Hezbollah, have generally stayed on the sidelines of the conflict with Israel. But Aoun, a former commander of the Lebanese army, appeared to have finally lost his patience with the Israeli-enforced status quo.
Since the ceasefire, Israel has maintained troops in five areas in southern Lebanon and carried out regular strikes, which it claims target Hezbollah positions.
The situation remains volatile nearly a year after Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024, decimating much of the group’s senior leadership.
Under the ceasefire terms, Lebanon’s army is tasked with disarming Hezbollah in the south by the end of the year before expanding operations nationwide. Hezbollah insists Israel is exploiting this process to tighten its grip on Lebanese territory and refuses to disarm as long as Israel continues its attacks and occupation of Lebanese territory.
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