Despite a US-backed ceasefire having officially been in place for over a year in Lebanon, Israel has been steadily ratcheting its aerial attacks in southern Lebanon, against what it says are Hezbollah and terror targets, resulting in scores of casualties.

The latest attack came on Monday, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) having confirmed an airstrike in the al-Biyad area of southern Lebanon, which killed two Hezbollah operatives.

One of the operatives has been named by the IDF and in regional media as Hussein Ibrahim Suleiman, a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. The IDF announced, "The terrorists were involved in advancing terror attacks toward the territory of the State of Israel and were eliminated while working to rebuild a terror infrastructure."

"The actions of the terrorists constituted a threat to the State of Israel and its citizens, and a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the military added.

Several days of reporting and documentation in Beirut-based outlet The Cradle has indicated Israel's assaults have been happening for five consecutive days, also at a moment the United States has kept up steady pressure on the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah. At least two Lebanese were also killed in attacks out of Israel on Sunday.

The total death toll is now at least 12 killed since last Thursday, with some of the attacks being drone strikes on single vehicles. Israel is apparently seeking to assassinate elite Hezbollah commanders in some cases.

There's been an official status of ceasefire going back to November of 2024. But that's been interrupted by intermittent Israel attacks, including a huge wave of airstrikes last June.

Prompted by military losses and shifting regional geopolitics, Hezbollah has reportedly been considering a major strategic shift that would see the group undertake a major disarmament, according to earlier reporting in Reuters.

Pursuant to the November ceasefire that ended its recent war with Israel, Hezbollah has turned over security responsibilities south of the Litani River to the Lebanese Armed Forces. Alongside that shift, the group has also handed over weapons depots in that part of the country.

The past several days has seen the IDF proclaim that various Hezbollah commanders have been taken out in 'targeted strikes':

In September 2024, Israel unleashed a massive attack on Hezbollah members, detonating thousands of pagers that Israeli intelligence had loaded with the explosive PETN. Nearly 3,000 people were wounded and at least a dozen killed, including two children. That same month, an Israeli airstrike killed the group's leader for 32 years, Hassan Nasrallah.   

Hezbollah's position has also been weakened by the December fall of Syria's Assad regime, as a years-long US-led regime-change effort finally culminated in the secular, Iran-friendly Bashar al-Assad being replaced by the former leader of Jabhat al-Nusra.