by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it carried out airstrikes Monday evening on Hezbollah’s strategic weapons manufacturing and storage sites in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, targeting infrastructure the Iranian-backed terrorist organization has been trying to restore since the November 2024 ceasefire.

“A short while ago, the IDF struck terror infrastructure sites within a Hezbollah strategic weapons production and storage facility in the Bekaa area in Lebanon,” the IDF stated. The facility had previously been attacked in November, February, and March, but Israeli intelligence had identified renewed activity aimed at reestablishing operations.

“The IDF identified Hezbollah’s attempts to reestablish presence and operations within the facility,” the IDF added. “Additionally, Hezbollah military infrastructure sites were struck in the area of Srifa.”

The IDF called Hezbollah’s continued presence and weapons activities in southern Lebanon a “blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” pledging to “continue to operate to remove any threat” and to “prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to reestablish its terror capabilities.”

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, in support of Hamas, prompting months of warfare that ended with a ceasefire in November 2024. That agreement required Hezbollah to withdraw from the south, but Israel retained the right to strike emerging threats.

While Hezbollah maintains an ambiguous stance on disarmament, recent remarks suggest some openness to negotiation. On Sunday, the group’s political council head, Ibrahim Amin al-Sayed, said Hezbollah is open to discussing Lebanon’s “defensive strategy,” which seeks to place all arms under state control. Still, he insisted that talks would not begin while Israel maintains control over five military posts in southern Lebanon and continues “daily aggression.”

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, whose election ended years of political deadlock partially due to Hezbollah’s weakened state, has vowed to centralize military authority under the Lebanese Army (LAF). Last week, he claimed the army now controls more than 85 percent of the southern region, though this has not been independently verified.

Demonstrating that shift, the LAF announced Monday that it had dismantled a Captagon drug production lab near the Lebanon-Syria border and seized large quantities of drugs and materials. That same area had previously served as a smuggling route for Hezbollah and Iran-aligned groups.

In another move to assert control, the LAF confirmed that Hamas handed over three Palestinians suspected of launching rockets at Israel in March — two on Monday and one the day before.

The IDF maintains that its operations are essential to uphold the ceasefire terms and to prevent Hezbollah from regaining the capability to launch renewed assaults from Lebanese territory.

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