Sidon, Jan 6: Israeli airstrikes hit several locations in southern and eastern Lebanon late Monday and early Tuesday, including a major strike in the coastal city of Sidon, days before a key government meeting on the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Around 1 am on Tuesday, an airstrike destroyed a three-storey commercial building in Sidon’s industrial area, which houses workshops and mechanic units. The structure was unoccupied at the time. At least one person was taken to hospital, while rescue teams continued searches. No deaths were immediately reported.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli forces struck multiple sites in southern and eastern Lebanon, claiming the locations were linked to infrastructure used by Hezbollah and Hamas. Some of the strikes followed advance warnings issued for villages in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, prompting evacuations and preventing casualties.
Lebanese officials said a house struck in Manara village in the Bekaa Valley belonged to a Hamas commander who was killed in a drone strike last year. Separately, a drone attack on a vehicle in the southern village of Braikeh wounded two people. Israel said those targeted were Hezbollah members.
The strikes come ahead of a scheduled government session where Lebanon’s army chief is expected to brief leaders on progress in disarming Hezbollah in areas near the Israeli border, particularly south of the Litani River. The Lebanese government has stated that armed presence in these zones is to be cleared by the end of 2025.
Disarmament efforts intensified after the 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which began in October 2023 and ended with a ceasefire in November 2024. Since then, Israeli airstrikes have continued, targeting militant positions while also resulting in civilian casualties, according to international rights bodies.
