Israel launches intense airstrikes in Lebanon as deadline looms to
disarm Hezbollah
[December 19, 2025]
By BASSEM MROUE
BEIRUT (AP) — Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on southern and
northeastern Lebanon on Thursday as a deadline looms to disarm the
militant Hezbollah group along the countries' tense frontier.
The strikes came a day before a meeting of the committee monitoring the
enforcement of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest war
between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. The gathering on Friday will be
the second meeting of the mechanism after Israel and Lebanon appointed
civilian members to a previously military-only committee. The group also
includes the United States, France and the U.N. peacekeeping force
deployed along the border.
In Paris, Lebanon’s army commander, Gen. Rodolph Haikal, held meetings
with U.S., French and Saudi officials to discuss ways of assisting the
army in its mission to boost its presence in the border area. Haikal
started his meetings first by holding talks with French military
officials.
Gen. Fabien Mandon, the French armed forces' chief of staff, posted on X
Thursday that he discussed with Haikal the strategic environment and
security challenges in Lebanon and the region.
Mandon said that France’s help to the Lebanese army is guided by a
common objective, which is “to contribute to maintaining stability and
lasting peace, in respect with Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
The French Foreign Ministry said political parties meeting in Paris on
Thursday agreed to hold a conference in February aimed at supporting the
Lebanese armed forces.
The ministry added that the talks focused on how to demonstrate progress
toward Hezbollah's disarmament, as French, Saudi and U.S. officials met
with the head of the Lebanese army to work on a road map for a
disarmament mechanism.
A Lebanese army statement quoted Haikal as telling Mandon that Lebanon's
military is committed to implementing the first phase of the ceasefire
deal near the border with Israel “within the specified time frame.”
The Lebanese government has said that the army should have cleared the
whole border area south of the Litani River from Hezbollah’s armed
presence by the end of the year.
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The Israeli military said that the strikes hit Hezbollah
infrastructure and launching sites in a military compound used by
the group to conduct training and courses for its fighters. The
Israeli military also said that it struck several Hezbollah military
structures in which weapons were stored, and from which Hezbollah
members operated recently.
The intense airstrikes stretched from areas in Mount Rihan in the
south to the northeastern Hermel region that borders Syria,
according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, or NNA.
Shortly afterward, a drone strike on a car near the southern town of
Taybeh wounded four people, NNA reported.
“This is an Israeli message to the Paris meeting aiming to support
the Lebanese army,” parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri said about the
strikes.
“The fire belt of Israeli airstrikes is to honor the mechanism’s
meeting tomorrow (Friday),” Berri said during a parliamentary
meeting in Beirut.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after
Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, after Hezbollah fired
rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a
widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September 2024 that severely
weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.
Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly
targeting Hezbollah members, but also killing 127 civilians,
according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
Over the past several weeks, the U.S. has increased pressure on
Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah.
___
Associated Press writer Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this
report.
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