Jerusalem, Dec 23: The Israeli military carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, saying it targetted Hezbollah sites.“The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) struck several Hezbollah terrorists in the area of Sidon in southern Lebanon,” a military spokesperson said in a statement.
On Friday, the two sides held talks again as part of a security dialogue, focusing on Hezbollah’s disarmament and the return of residents to their homes in Lebanon’s southern border villages, according to Israeli and Lebanese sources.
The meeting, under US coordination, took place in the town of Naqoura in southwest Lebanon, near Israel’s northern border, Xinhua news agency reported. Israeli Deputy Director for Foreign Policy at the National Security Council Yosef Dreznin represented Israel in the talks, while Lebanon’s former ambassador to the United States, Simon Karam, led the Lebanese delegation.
According to an Israeli statement, the meeting centered on Hezbollah’s disarmament and the advancement of economic projects, highlighting a mutual interest in countering Hezbollah and ensuring long-term security for communities on both sides of the border.
A statement by the Lebanese presidency said that during the talks, Karam highlighted Lebanon’s firm position on the humanitarian and national importance of enabling displaced villagers to return safely to their homes.
A ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel has been in force since November 27, 2024 but Israel has continued to carry out occasional strikes aiming at eliminating Hezbollah threats.
Earlier this month, the two countries held their first direct talks in Naqoura, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “a first attempt to lay the groundwork for relations and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”
On December 14, three Hezbollah members were killed, and a fourth was wounded in Israeli drone strikes in southern Lebanon, Lebanese officials and security sources had said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone struck a motorcycle in the village of Yater in the Bint Jbeil district, killing one person and wounding another. A second Israeli drone hit a car between the towns of Safad al-Battikh and Baraachit, also in the Bint Jbeil district, killing one person. A third person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the village of Jouaiyya, the agency said.
A Lebanese security source said all three people killed were members of Hezbollah. The Israeli military said it had struck three Hezbollah militants in several areas of southern Lebanon.
“The militants were involved in attempts to re-establish Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure, and their activities constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” it said, referring to a ceasefire that took effect in November 2024.