Israel Continues Attacks Across Region Despite Ceasefire
Israel’s military actions across the Middle East have continued despite the recent ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
The agreement, enacted on October 10, has somewhat eased pressure on Palestinians in Gaza, though Israeli strikes persist. Meanwhile, Israel continues launching attacks on multiple fronts across the region.
In the past week, Israel has launched strikes in Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank, lending weight to claims that it aims to keep neighboring regions destabilized and weak.
U.S. officials visited Israel this week, but Washington — Tel Aviv’s strongest ally — showed no signs of holding it accountable for its regional aggression, instead focusing primarily on Gaza.
Here’s what you need to know about Israel’s latest attacks across the Middle East.
The Israeli-occupied West Bank
Israel is intensifying its crackdown on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli military has killed over 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank alone and has escalated efforts to annex the occupied territory.
For the second consecutive week, Israeli soldiers and settlers have been harassing and arresting Palestinians attempting to harvest their olive crops.
According to the Wafa news agency, one of the Palestinians recently detained by Israel had previously been released during January’s brief ceasefire as part of a prisoner exchange, only to be rearrested.
The violence on the ground is being echoed by incendiary rhetoric from Israeli officials, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has called on his supporters to pressure U.S. President Donald Trump to back the annexation of the West Bank.
He has also advocated for Israel to declare sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, claiming this would prevent the dangerous idea of a Palestinian state.
Syria
In recent days, the Israeli military has been particularly active in Syria, with local media reporting almost daily incursions into Syrian territory along the southern border.
Last December, as the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad collapsed, Israel moved into Syrian territory and targeted military infrastructure across the country.
Israel has kept up its incursions, even though Syria’s new government has not reciprocated Israel’s aggressions.
According to Syrian media, the incursions involve reconnaissance flights, ground infiltrations by Israeli soldiers, arrests and disappearances of Syrians, and the establishment of checkpoints on Syrian territory.
Israel’s most recent attack occurred Sunday morning in the villages of al-Razaniyah and Sayda al-Hanout, located in Quneitra’s countryside, according to Syrian state media outlet SANA.
“A unit of Israeli forces, comprising four military vehicles, set up a checkpoint between the two villages,” a SANA reporter said. “During the operation, they detained a local bread distributor serving nearby villages near Sayda, then released him before withdrawing from the area.”
Israeli tanks enter Quneitra, Syria as Israel air strikes continue after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, December 10, 2024 [Bekir Kasım/Anadolu Agency]
According to Syrian outlet Enab Baladi, numerous villages in Quneitra, southern Syria, have faced Israeli incursions in recent weeks.
At the United Nations Security Council session on October 24, Syria’s UN Representative Ibrahim Olabi urged Israel to stop interfering in Syria’s internal affairs and halt its incursions into Syrian territory.
He also denounced Israel’s ongoing occupation of Syrian territory, including the Golan Heights.
Olabi stated that Israel’s “aggressive” actions violate the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Syria and Israel, though Israel has argued the agreement is no longer valid following al-Assad’s fall.
Lebanon
In neighboring Lebanon, Israel has persisted in regularly violating the ceasefire with Hezbollah.
In recent days, southern Lebanon has faced particularly intense bombing by Israel.
On Monday, UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL shot down an Israeli drone after it allegedly dropped a grenade near a patrol. UNIFIL reported that an Israeli tank subsequently fired at peacekeepers, causing no casualties. Attacks on UNIFIL by Israel are not unprecedented.
Earlier, on Sunday, Israel killed two people, one in Nabi Chit, Baalbek, and another in Naqoura, south Lebanon.
Israel’s conflict with Lebanon concluded on November 27, 2024, when the Lebanese government and Israel signed a ceasefire agreement.
However, the Israeli military did not fully withdraw from Lebanon and continued near-daily bombardments across the country.
Recent attacks have destroyed reconstruction equipment and killed civilians, with Israeli media claiming the strikes aim to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding in southern Lebanon.
Israel and the U.S. are demanding that the Lebanese government fully disarm Hezbollah, a requirement exceeding the ceasefire terms, which only called for Hezbollah’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese government has expressed its intention to disarm Hezbollah but has urged the U.S. to hold Israel accountable for ceasefire violations, including its continued occupation of at least five areas in Lebanese territory.
Lebanese media report that U.S. Special Envoy Tom Barrack has been unable to persuade Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory or halt its aggression, leaving many in Lebanon fearing a repeat of last year’s violence, when Israel killed over 4,000 people and displaced more than one million.
Israeli media reported that the Israeli army recently conducted military drills simulating a Hezbollah invasion, even though experts and diplomats told Al Jazeera that Hezbollah is currently incapable of carrying out such an attack.
Gaza
U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated during a visit to Israel last week that the ceasefire reached on October 10 between Hamas and Israel is progressing “better than expected.”
However, Israel has continued carrying out strikes across Gaza, resulting in civilian deaths, leaving the U.S. administration’s expectations unclear.
Beyond its ongoing attacks, Israel is also undermining the ceasefire by advancing deeper into Gaza, crossing an informal “yellow line” it was meant to respect, according to the BBC.
Although Israeli attacks have decreased since the ceasefire, Palestinian suffering in Gaza continues. Israel has not only restricted aid supplies but has also continued to raise the death toll.
On Saturday night, a drone strike in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp killed one Palestinian and injured four others, according to al-Awda Hospital. Since the ceasefire began, nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to prevent sick individuals from leaving Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
Rasha Abu Sbeaka told Al Jazeera on Sunday that she has stage-three cancer and needs to leave Gaza for proper medical treatment, following the destruction of the territory’s medical infrastructure by Israel.
However, Abu Sbeaka remains without relief, still waiting for Israel to grant permission for her to leave Gaza for treatment.
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