AFP reported that the Israeli military said in a statement on May 2 (local time) it struck about 70 Hezbollah military facilities and about 50 infrastructure sites across several areas of southern Lebanon, saying it removed threats.
The military was reported to have issued evacuation orders to residents of nine villages in southern Lebanon ahead of the strikes. Lebanese media also reported casualties, saying at least three people were killed in the south.
Hezbollah, in turn, continued attacks targeting Israeli forces, calling them a legitimate response to what it described as Israel’s ceasefire violations.
Hezbollah is widely seen as Iran’s key proxy in the Middle East. Israel has long regarded the group, based in southern Lebanon along its northern border, as its biggest security threat.
The clashes escalated on Feb. 28, early in the Iran war, when Hezbollah launched rocket attacks in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the report said.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire on April 17, but have continued to trade accusations of violations as fighting persists.
As the situation worsened, Lebanese army commander Rodolphe Haykal met on May 2 (local time) with U.S. Gen. Joseph Clearfield, chair of the ceasefire monitoring committee, during Clearfield’s visit to Lebanon. They discussed Lebanon’s security situation and regional developments and explored ways to improve the effectiveness of the ceasefire monitoring system, reports said.
AFP said more than 2,600 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced over about two months of Israeli airstrikes.
Separately, controversy has erupted after reports said a Catholic facility in southern Lebanon was damaged during the strikes.
The Israeli military said a house inside a religious compound was damaged during an attack on Hezbollah sites, adding that there were no markings indicating the building was a religious facility.
A French Catholic charity group strongly objected, saying the Israeli military destroyed a convent of the Greek Catholic "Sisters of the Savior," which it said works with the organization.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.