Israel has carried out airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon. Thursday's strikes come as the deadline to disarm Hezbollah looms. The attacks happened a day before a meeting of a committee monitoring a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The ceasefire ended the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. The Israeli military said that it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure and military sites. Lebanon's National News Agency reported that the strikes stretched from Mount Rihan to the northeastern Hermel region. The U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah in recent weeks.

The Lebanese army has condemned Israel's airstrikes on suburbs of Beirut, warning that such attacks are weakening the role of Lebanon's armed forces that might eventually suspend cooperation with the committee monitoring the truce that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war. The army's statement Friday came hours after the Israeli military struck several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs that it said held underground facilities used by Hezbollah for drone production. The Lebanese army said it started coordinating with the committee observing the ceasefire after Israel's military issued a warning and sent patrols to the areas that were to be struck to search them.

Israel has launched an attack on the Lebanese capital Beirut for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. The attack Friday was the first strike on Beirut since a ceasefire took hold on Nov. 27, 2024, between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, although Israel has struck targets in southern Lebanon almost daily since then. After the strike, Israel's army said it attacked a Hezbollah drone storage facility in the area of Dahiyeh, which it called a key Hezbollah stronghold. Israel said it issued a warning in advance for people to leave.

Lebanon's Health Ministry says more than 3,000 people have been killed during 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. That's more than double the number of people killed since their last major war two decades ago. The war shows no signs of ending, as Israel said it was carrying out new operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure across Lebanon and in parts of Syria while Hezbollah continued to launch dozens of rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas' surprise attack into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran.