Smoke billows from the reported site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Wata al-Khiam, July 12, 2025.
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Saturday that an “Israeli enemy strike” on a home in south Lebanon’s Wata al-Khiam killed one person.
Wata al-Khiam is about 5 kilometers from the Israeli border
The Israel Defense Forces later issued a statement confirming the strike, saying it targeted an operative of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile unit.
The ceasefire, which ended over a year of hostilities, required Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, and gave Israel 60 days to do so, to be replaced by the Lebanese military and international peacekeepers. Israel has since withdrawn from all but five points overlooking the border.
On Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israel’s continued presence in south Lebanon was preventing the Lebanese army from deploying. The president expressed interest in peaceful relations with Israel but said normalizing relations was off the table for now.
He also reaffirmed his government’s commitment to maintaining a monopoly on arms — a veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal.
Unprovoked, Hezbollah began firing near-daily rocket attacks at Israel on October 8, 2023 — a day after its Iran-backed ally Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,139 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah’s rocket fire displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. In a bid to ensure their safe return, Israel stepped up operations in Lebanon in September, leading to two months of open warfare with Hezbollah in which the group’s leadership was decimated.
Lebanon faces Existential Threat if Hezbollah is not disarmed
US Special Envoy Tom Barrack warned, in an interview with the Emirati newspaper The National, that Lebanon risks falling into the hands of regional powers unless Beirut moves to resolve the issue of Hezbollah’s arms
He pointed out that “Lebanon needs to resolve this issue, otherwise it could face an existential threat,” adding, “Israel on one side, Iran on the other, and now Syria is emerging very quickly. If Lebanon doesn’t act, it will return to the Levant.”
Updated to correct the target of Israeli strike
News Agencies