In brief
On Thursday, June 5, 2025, Israel executed a significant wave of airstrikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut, which is predominantly controlled by the militant group Hezbollah. This targeted assault focused on alleged underground drone manufacturing sites, the heaviest bombardment of Beirut’s Dahiya area since the implementation of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire in November, which concluded a devastating war in the region.
The Israeli military accused Hezbollah of deliberately situating these drone facilities within civilian areas, thereby breaching the cease-fire accord that mandates the group's disarmament and Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah had established a stronghold prior to the conflict.Prior to the airstrikes, Israeli authorities urged residents to evacuate specific neighborhoods within Dahiya that were marked as targets in a map released on social media. In a bid to prevent the airstrikes, the Lebanese military attempted to survey the flagged structures and made contact with a U.S.-backed cease-fire monitoring group, according to a senior Lebanese security official who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.Despite the cease-fire agreement, both Israel and Lebanon have traded accusations over their failure to fully comply with its terms, heightening tensions in the region. The conflict remains fraught as both sides navigate the Complexities of disarmament and sovereignty in the wake of ongoing military actions.
