By Elham Asaad Buaras
London, (The Muslim News): Israel launched a fresh wave of airstrikes on four towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday, hours after ordering residents to flee, just as President Joseph Aoun confirmed civilian-led talks with Israel will resume on December 19 in a bid to prevent “a second war”.
The Israeli military claimed it struck Hezbollah weapons depots in the south, shortly after spokesman Avichay Adraee instructed residents of Jbaa, Mahrouneh, Mjadel and Baraachit to leave their homes immediately.
He claimed the strikes were a response to Hezbollah’s “prohibited attempts” to rebuild its activities in the area. Hezbollah and Lebanese officials offered no immediate comment.
The flare-up came less than 24 hours after Israeli and Lebanese civilian delegations met in Naqoura for the first session of the ceasefire monitoring committee. The meeting, which involved political and technical discussions, ended with agreement to deepen engagement ahead of the next round.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says 335 people have been killed and 973 wounded by Israeli fire since the ceasefire came into force on Nov. 27, 2024. UNIFIL has recorded more than 10,000 Israeli air and ground violations during that period.
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was due to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in January. Instead, it has only partially pulled back and continues to hold five border outposts.
Aoun confirmed on Thursday that civilian-led negotiations with Israel will restart on December 19 to accelerate the implementation of the truce. Wednesday’s Naqoura talks brought together a Lebanese delegation headed by former ambassador to Washington, Simon Karam, and an Israeli team led by Uri Resnick, senior director for foreign policy at Israel’s National Security Council.
“It was self-evident that the first session would not be highly productive, but it paved the way for upcoming sessions that will begin on the 19th of the current month,” Aoun told ministers at Baabda Palace. He added in a presidential statement that “the language of negotiation should prevail over the language of war.”
Aoun said Karam, “a respected civilian figure,” was chosen after consultations with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Last year’s ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Beirut followed more than a year of cross-border fire fuelled by the Gaza war, which left over 4,000 dead and 17,000 injured by Israeli bombings. Since November 2024, the Health Ministry has recorded 1,038 Israeli attacks resulting in 335 fatalities and 973 injuries.
West Bank escalation
Violence also intensified in the occupied West Bank, where four Palestinians were injured on Thursday in attacks by Israeli troops and illegal settlers, medics said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that a 12-year-old boy was critically wounded by live fire during an Israeli raid in Qalqilya.
A 26-year-old man was also shot and taken to hospital. The organisation said Israeli forces obstructed its teams from reaching the Kafr Saba neighbourhood and assaulted paramedics attempting to carry out their duties. Troops later withdrew after conducting arrests and home searches that damaged property.
Separately, Red Crescent teams treated a Palestinian man and his daughter after they were beaten by Jewish settlers near the Eli settlement in Ramallah. Their vehicle was burned during the attack.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said illegal settlers carried out 621 attacks against Palestinians in November alone.
Since October 2023, more than 1,087 Palestinians have been killed and 10,700 injured in attacks by Israeli forces and settlers, with more than 20,500 arrests.
In a landmark ruling last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
[Photo: A view of the area after Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike on the town of Jbaa in southern Lebanon on December 04, 2025. Several houses were damaged in the attack, and smoke was seen rising from the area. Photojournalist: Ahmad Kaddoura/AA]
