The Israeli military has carried out heavy air strikes on southern Lebanon after issuing evacuation orders for several locations, saying Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was trying to rebuild its military capabilities there.
The orders and strikes came despite a ceasefire deal agreed a year ago that was meant to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and after months of Lebanese army efforts to clear Hezbollah sites in the south.
Giving a preliminary toll, the Lebanese health ministry said that one person was wounded in the afternoon bombing after one person was killed in strikes earlier in the day.
Israel's military Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, issued three simultaneous evacuation orders on X at 3pm local time (midnight AEDT) on Thursday, with maps showing buildings in the villages of Aita al-Jabal, Taybeh and Tayr Debba.
Two more orders came later for Zawtar El Charqiyeh and Kfar Dounin.
The locations ranged from just 4 kilometres away from the Israeli border to nearly 24km north of the frontier, from the Tyre district in the west to Taybeh in the east.
The fourth location was north of the Litani River, which demarcates the bounds of where peacekeeping forces operate and Hezbollah forces must withdraw north of.
The posts ordered residents to keep a 500-metre distance from the identified locations. Mosques, schools, cemeteries, and pharmacies are located within those areas, some of which were highlighted on the IDF maps.
Lebanon's civil defence helped people to evacuate, the Lebanese state news agency said.
The air strikes began about an hour after the orders, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky.
Fears have been mounting in Lebanon that Israel could resume a full-blown aerial bombing campaign, particularly after Israeli leaders warned they would take action against Hezbollah if Lebanon did not step up efforts to disarm the group.
"We are in a very dangerous situation; if things keep heading this way … then all hope is lost. No-one knows where the consequences of these matters will lead," Farid Nahnouh, mayor of Tayr Debba, said.
The strikes destroyed an ironworks business in the southern Lebanon town of Abbasiyeh.
"This shop was supporting five to six households, overall five to six homes," said Ahmad al-Kayyal, who owned the business.
"Brother, what does a blacksmith do? For heaven's sake: chairs, tables, doors, windows, railings. What does he make? That's the blacksmith's job."
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had completed its strikes on "weapon storage facilities belonging to Radwan Force unit" five hours after the first warning.
The ABC could not independently verify the targets were in fact used by Hezbollah.
Avichay Adraee again posted black and white drone videos of the air strikes on X.
The IDF said Hezbollah "continues in their attempts to reestablish terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon, intended to harm the State of Israel," adding it had attempted to "mitigate harm to civilians" with the warnings and "the use of precise munition".
"The presence of terrorist infrastructure and the weapons storage facilities that were struck constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, while endangering the civilians in the area," it said in a statement.
Lebanon's President, Joseph Aoun, condemned the attack, calling it a "fully-fledged crime".
"Every time Lebanon expressed its openness to peaceful negotiations to resolve outstanding issues with Israel, Israel intensified its aggression against Lebanese sovereignty," he said in a statement.
"Israel boasted of its disregard for UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and persisted in violating its commitments under the cessation of hostilities agreement.
"Israel spared no effort to demonstrate its rejection of any negotiated settlement since the ceasefire came into effect. Your message has been received."
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the peacekeeping force tasked with observing southern Lebanon, said it observed "multiple Israeli airstrikes in Tayr Dibbah, Taibe, and Ayta al Jabal, within our area of operations".
"These airstrikes constitute clear violations of Security Council resolution 1701," it said in a statement.
"They come as the Lebanese Armed Forces are undertaking operations to control unauthorised weapons and infrastructure in the south Litani area.
"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."
It called on Israel to cease its attacks and "all violations" and urged "Lebanese actors to refrain from any response that could inflame the situation further."
The Lebanese army, in a statement, condemned the strikes, calling them "a continuation of the enemy's destructive approach aimed at undermining Lebanon's stability and widening destruction in the south."
Strikes throughout ceasefire
While Israel has carried out frequent strikes targeting what it says are Hezbollah military sites and group members present in southern Lebanon over the past year, they have rarely come with evacuation orders.
"Israel will continue to defend all of its borders, and we continue also to insist on the full enforcement of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel," Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters on Thursday.
Ms Bedrosian said Israel would not allow Hezbollah to rearm or to recover the military strength that was shattered by Israel's ground and air war in 2023-24.
Hezbollah said on Thursday it was committed to the ceasefire, but that it retained a "legitimate right" to resist Israel.
It has refused to disarm in full, but has not obstructed the army's efforts in the south and has not fired on Israel since the truce deal came into force last year.
In early October, UNIFIL said it had recorded more than 2,200 "Israeli activities north of the Blue Line, and more than 6,200 air violations" since the ceasefire, violating the truce.
Many of those strikes focused on areas close to the Israeli border but attacks had also been reported in the Lebanese capital Beirut and in the Beqqa Valley. Israeli drones also dropped a grenade on UNIFIL peacekeepers, lightly injuring one.
The evacuation warnings coincided with a meeting of Lebanon's cabinet to hear an update from army commander Rodolphe Haykal on progress in confiscating Hezbollah arms depots in south Lebanon.
The army has said it could clear all of southern Lebanon of arms outside of state control by the end of the year.
Two senior Lebanese security officials told Reuters hours before the heavy strikes on Thursday that their troops were making swifter progress every month on disarmament.
ABC/Reuters
