Lebanon warns Israel may be preparing wide-scale military operation

Lebanon has received warnings from unnamed Arab and international parties suggesting that Israel is preparing to launch a large-scale military operation against the country, the Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has said.

Speaking on Friday, Raggi told Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) that Beirut is intensifying diplomatic efforts “to protect Lebanon and its facilities from any potential strike”.

His remarks came after Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported on Thursday evening that the Israeli army had “completed preparations in recent weeks for a wide attack on Hezbollah-linked targets” should the Lebanese government and army fail to meet a commitment to dismantle the group’s weapons by the end of 2025.

According to the report, Israel has informed the United States that it would act independently to disarm Hezbollah if necessary, even if this leads to several days of fighting or a renewed escalation along the northern front. The broadcaster cited a senior Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Raggi stressed that ongoing meetings of the so-called mechanism committee do not amount to direct negotiations with Israel. The committee was established under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been in force since late November 2024, and includes representatives from Lebanon, France, Israel, the United States, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

“We are seeking a return to the Armistice Agreement with Israel,” Raggi said, adding that a full peace treaty remains “far off at this stage”.

In unusually candid remarks, the foreign minister said that Hezbollah’s weapons had shown “limited effectiveness” both in supporting Gaza and in defending Lebanon. He added that the Lebanese state is engaged in dialogue with Hezbollah in an attempt to persuade the group to hand over its weapons, but noted that it has so far refused to do so.

Raggi also described Iran’s role in Lebanon and the wider region as “negative”, accusing Tehran of contributing to instability. While saying that Lebanon remains open to dialogue with Iran, he stressed that this would require an end to interference in Lebanese internal affairs and the funding of non-state armed groups.

The Israeli broadcaster’s report was the second such warning by Israeli media in less than two weeks. On 30 November, Channel 13 reported that the Israeli army had presented an operational plan to expand attacks against Hezbollah during a high-level meeting attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ministers, and senior security officials.

A ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since November 2024, following more than a year of hostilities that left over 4,000 people dead and around 17,000 wounded, amid the backdrop of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Despite the ceasefire, at least 335 people have been killed and 973 injured in more than 1,000 Israeli attacks since it took effect, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Under the terms of the agreement, Israeli forces were expected to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by January 2025. However, Israel has only partially pulled back and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.