Israel said Tuesday it killed a senior Hezbollah militant responsible for drones and missiles, even as it freed Lebanese prisoners as a "goodwill" gesture to the country's new president.
Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued to carry out air strikes in Lebanon, claiming they are necessary to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from rearming or re-establishing a presence along its northern border.
"Earlier today, the IAF (air force) conducted a precise intelligence-based strike in the area of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, eliminating Hassan Abbas Ezzedine, the head of Hezbollah's aerial array in the Bader regional unit," the military said in a statement.
It said it carried out a second strike on Tuesday in the Froun area, targeting several militants.
"Several terrorists were identified in a site used by Hezbollah in the area of Froun in southern Lebanon," the military said. "An IAF aircraft struck the suspects."
Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that two people were killed in the Israeli strikes.
"An enemy Israeli drone strike targeting a car on the Deir El-Zahrani road resulted in one fatality," the news agency said, citing the health ministry.
It later reported that a second person was killed in an Israeli air strike on a vehicle in the Froun area.
Although a truce reached on November 27 largely ended more than a year of hostilities — including two months of full-scale war in which Israeli ground troops crossed the border — Israel has continued to launch periodic strikes in Lebanese territory.
Israel was initially expected to withdraw from Lebanon by February 18, after missing a January deadline, but it has maintained a presence in five strategic locations.
The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
In a separate development on Tuesday, Israel announced it had agreed to release five Lebanese citizens detained during its war with Hezbollah.
"In coordination with the United States and as a gesture to Lebanon's new president, Israel has agreed to release five Lebanese detainees," a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's office said four of the prisoners had been freed on Tuesday and the fifth would follow on Wednesday.
Their release followed a meeting earlier Tuesday in the Lebanese border town of Naqoura, attended by representatives of Israel, Lebanon and mediators France and the United States.
"During the meeting, it was agreed to establish three joint working groups aimed at stabilising the region," the prime minister's statement said.
"These groups will focus on the five points controlled by Israel in southern Lebanon, discussions on the Blue Line and remaining disputed areas, and the issue of Lebanese detainees held by Israel."
The Blue Line is the UN-patrolled demarcation line that has served as de facto border since 2000.
In an interview with Lebanese news channel Al Jadeed, US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus emphasised Washington's efforts to resolve the border issue.
"We want to get a political resolution, finally, to the border disputes," Ortagus said.
"When it comes to the border agreement, the land border agreement, there are 13 points -- I think that six are still problematic," she said.
Ortagus said Israel had "withdrawn from over 99 percent of the territory".
"I feel fairly confident that... we can have final resolution on the five points and ultimately on the remaining issues related to the Blue Line".
© 2025 AFP
9 Comments
NB
Bring peace to the Middle East! Stop terrorism! Release the Israeli hostages!
Fos
What has been going on in Gaza was and still is the most documented genocide in history. Palestinians have being intentionally massacred by Israel IDF, starved, and stripped of everything needed to sustain human life. The demise of rule of law, a prelude to the hand of humanity.
battleground in South Lebanon. Therefore all the actions and destructions by Israel IDF cannot be documented by foreign media. Only the media embedded with Israel army. So you can have an idea of the authenticity of the chronicles, especially the narrative of American media.
A reminder that this terrible conflict would end the first 24 hours the US administration stops shipping lethal weapons to Israel, but, as we know, there is too much at stake for the US lobbies in Wall Street
WoodyLee
Oct. 2026 couldn't come to Israel any sooner.
Vote these war criminals out of office, Israel.
Peace is a precious thing to give up for a bunch of War mongers.
Aly Rustom
Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued to carry out air strikes in Lebanon, claiming they are necessary to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from rearming or re-establishing a presence along its northern border.
Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued violate it by carrying out air strikes in Lebanon, falsely claiming they are necessary to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from rearming or re-establishing a presence along its northern border.
There. Fixed it for you.
GuruMick
Hezbollah only has to lob a few more missiles into the border area of Israel/Lebanon and , once again, Israeli citizens in the tens of thousands will have to evacuate and relocate to places like Tel Aviv, at the cost to the Israeli Govt,/taxpayer.
Israel cant win this asymmetrical type of warfare.
GuruMick
Times of Israel reporting Iran, China and Russia conducting joint naval exercises in the seas adjacent to Iran.
The world is rapidly becoming divided between the west and the rest.
6 gun Donnie cant do anything about it but tweet out ungrammatical comments.
NB
If you want to commit genocide to another nation, don't complain when the other nation fights back.
Fos
Another desperate attempt of Netanyahu’s propaganda (NB) to justify the mass killing of over 60,000 people, 70% of which were innocent children and women. Let’s all remember that the head of government in Israel, best friend of Washington, is a wanted criminal by the International Court of Justice
NB
The Hamas propaganda bureau in Londres, Angleterre, works tirelessly around the clock. They pound and pound nonstop. They collect every shred of information, but they are not able to assemble the pieces into a complete jigsaw puzzle picture that makes sense. The "information" that they emit is twisted and distorted. One of their horns claim that Israel has the habit of amputating people sadistically. The truth is that the Hamas terrorists are those who kidnap random hostages, torture them, amputate their libs, rape women, burn people alive, shoot people at gunpoint, behead babies and bomb buses with their passengers.