Nearly a year after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire was declared between Israel and Hezbollah, the landscape along the Israel-Lebanon border remains fraught with violence and uncertainty. On October 11, 2025, Israeli airstrikes hit a construction equipment business in southern Lebanon, killing a Syrian passerby, injuring seven others—including two women—and destroying millions of dollars worth of bulldozers and excavators. While such an attack would be shocking in most countries not at war, it has become part of the grim routine in Lebanon, where near-daily Israeli strikes have persisted despite the ceasefire agreement.
The November 27, 2024, ceasefire was supposed to halt offensive military actions by Israel in Lebanon and require Lebanon to prevent armed groups from attacking Israel. However, the deal allowed for actions in "self-defense"—a term left intentionally vague. This ambiguity has led to a situation where, as reported by the Associated Press, Israel largely takes enforcement into its own hands, asserting that its strikes are aimed at Hezbollah militants, their facilities, and weapons caches to prevent the group from rebuilding its capabilities.
Lebanese officials, on the other hand, see things quite differently. They argue that Israeli attacks not only harm civilians and destroy infrastructure unrelated to Hezbollah, but also undermine efforts to persuade Hezbollah to disarm. According to Lebanese authorities, these strikes provide Hezbollah with a pretext to retain its weapons, perpetuating the cycle of violence. The human toll has been significant: Lebanon's health ministry reports that more than 270 people have been killed and approximately 850 wounded by Israeli military actions since the ceasefire took effect. As of October 9, 2025, the U.N. human rights office had verified that 107 of those killed were civilians or noncombatants, as stated by spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan.
Despite the ongoing violence in Lebanon, no Israelis have been killed by fire from Lebanon since the ceasefire began. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) detected around 950 projectiles fired from Israel into Lebanon and 100 Israeli airstrikes between November 27, 2024, and mid-October 2025. In contrast, only 21 projectiles were fired from Lebanon toward Israel during the same period, with Hezbollah claiming responsibility for just one attack.
The October 11 airstrikes in Msayleh, which targeted the construction equipment business, sparked outrage and conflicting narratives. The Israeli army claimed it had targeted "engineering equipment intended for the reconstruction of terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon." However, Lebanese authorities, Hezbollah, and the business owner, Ahmad Tabaja, disputed this assertion. "Everyone in Lebanon, from all different sects, comes to buy from us. What have we done wrong?" Tabaja told journalists, expressing frustration at the destruction of his business. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun labeled the strikes "blatant aggression against civilian facilities," while Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri accused Israel of seeking to prevent the reconstruction of local communities.
These incidents are not isolated. In a particularly tragic episode last month, an Israeli strike in Bint Jbeil hit a motorcycle and a car carrying a family, killing car salesman Shadi Charara, three of his children—including 18-month-old twins—and the motorcyclist. Charara's wife and oldest daughter were badly wounded. The attack drew widespread condemnation, especially because of the deaths of young children. "My brother was a civilian and his children and wife are civilians, and they have nothing to do with politics," said Amina Charara, Shadi's sister. The Israeli military stated it was targeting a Hezbollah militant but acknowledged that civilians were killed in the operation.
Even when Israeli strikes do target known Hezbollah members, the justification is often disputed. Earlier in October, an Israeli drone strike killed a Hezbollah member, Hassan Atwi, and his wife. Israel described Atwi as a key official in Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit. However, Hezbollah officials countered that Atwi had played no military role since losing his eyesight in a previous Israeli attack.
The roots of this conflict run deep. Hezbollah was formed in 1982, with support from Iran, to resist Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. After Israel withdrew its forces in 2000, Hezbollah grew into one of the Middle East's most powerful non-state armed groups. The 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah ended in a draw, ushering in 17 years of what Nicholas Blanford of the Atlantic Council called a "tense calm ... that was largely due to mutual deterrence." Strikes in Lebanon were generally off limits, as both sides sought to avoid another devastating war. But that fragile balance has now been disrupted. "Deterrence has been shattered by the recent war," Blanford observed, suggesting that while Hezbollah remains capable of inflicting damage, the old rules no longer apply.
The latest escalation began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza. In solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinians, Hezbollah began launching rockets into Israel, prompting Israeli airstrikes and shelling in return. The conflict reached full-scale war in September 2024, before the November ceasefire was brokered.
The ceasefire agreement established a monitoring committee—including the U.S., France, Israel, Lebanon, and UNIFIL—to handle alleged violations, but the lack of clear enforcement mechanisms has left the situation precarious. Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the situation as a "lessfire" rather than a true ceasefire. "Lebanon could well serve as the model for Gaza, essentially giving leeway to Israeli forces to strike whenever they deem a threat without a full resumption of conflict," Yacoubian explained to the Associated Press.
This "lessfire" model may already be playing out in Gaza. On October 19, 2025, Israel struck Gaza after claiming that Hamas had fired at its troops, marking the first major test of the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire. The parallels are hard to ignore, and some analysts worry that ongoing, lower-intensity conflicts could become the new normal in both regions.
Hezbollah's response to the continuing Israeli attacks has so far been measured. Mohammad Fneish, a political official with the group, told the Associated Press that coexistence with daily Israeli strikes is "not acceptable." Yet, for now, Hezbollah has largely confined its response to urging Lebanon's government to exert political and diplomatic pressure on Israel. "If things develop further, then the resistance leadership is studying matters, and all options are open," Fneish warned, leaving the door open to future escalation if the situation deteriorates.
As the world watches the fragile ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, the lack of a clear path to peace or robust enforcement mechanisms leaves both regions teetering on the edge. For civilians caught in the crossfire, the distinction between war and peace has become heartbreakingly blurred.