Israel’s military carried out several strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah targets as officials are pushing both sides to finalize a ceasefire deal to stop the war.
Israeli military officials said they completed strikes on 20 targets in the area of the Lebanese capital of Beirut. The strikes occurred in Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold.
Officials said Israel also struck what it described as “components of Hezbollah’s financial systems, including headquarters, storage facilities, and branches of the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, which are used by Hezbollah to collect and store its terrorist funds.”
The Biden administration has sought to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, but the two sides have been unable to break through despite its efforts. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged cross-border fire for more than a year.
The Israeli Cabinet is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to agree to the latest ceasefire proposal.
“I think you can understand that where we’re going to be today is that this remains a top priority for the President … to get this ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah so that the rockets and the missiles stop and so that people can start moving back to their homes and restarting their lives along that Blue Line,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Israeli forces said they reached the Litani River, and the body of water is significant because it runs parallel to the Israel-Lebanon border, about 18 miles north of it, and has previously been used as a demarcation line for where Hezbollah can station its heavy weapons.
Israel and Hezbollah last went to war in the summer of 2006. The monthlong conflict ended with United Nations Resolution 1701, which required Israel to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon and for Hezbollah to move north of the Litani River. Hezbollah never complied with the resolution’s requirements.
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Hezbollah began firing rockets and missiles into northern Israel in the aftermath of Hamas’s unprecedented terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel evacuated more than 50,000 people from the northern areas of the country due to concerns that Hezbollah could carry out a similarly styled cross-border raid like Hamas did.
Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been evacuated, and Israel escalated its attacks on Hezbollah in September.