Lebanon Crisis Update: Ceasefire Collapses as Israel Resumes Airstrikes

The fragile peace that has held Lebanon together for nearly a year is rapidly disintegrating. On Monday, December 15, 2025, the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah—brokered in November 2024—effectively collapsed as Israeli warplanes launched a fresh wave of heavy airstrikes against targets in southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa Valley.
The renewed violence follows months of escalating tensions and mutual accusations of treaty violations. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the strikes, stating they targeted “advanced Hezbollah training compounds” and weapons depots used by the group’s elite Radwan Force in the areas of Jarmak, Rihan, and Wadi Houmin. Israeli officials allege that Hezbollah has utilized the year-long truce not to disarm, as stipulated by the cessation of hostilities agreement, but to rearm and entrench its positions north of the Litani River.
In Beirut, the political fallout is immediate. President Joseph Aoun, who was elected in January 2025 with a mandate to restore state sovereignty, faces an existential crisis. His administration’s attempts to implement a comprehensive disarmament plan have been met with fierce resistance from Hezbollah. On Saturday, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem defiantly rejected any calls for disarmament, warning that surrendering weapons would “leave Lebanon naked before the enemy” and effectively end the resistance. This stance was bolstered on Sunday by Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, who declared that Tehran would “resolutely support” Hezbollah against any attempts to weaken the “Axis of Resistance,” signaling that the conflict could once again draw in regional powers.
Diplomatic efforts to salvage the situation are being led by the newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa. A close confidant of U.S. President Donald Trump, Ambassador Issa arrived in Beirut last month with a hardline message: full implementation of UN Resolution 1701 or the risk of “unrestricted warfare.” However, the credibility of U.S. mediation is strained. Reports indicate that Washington privately gave Israel a “green light” to enforce the ceasefire terms unilaterally if the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) failed to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure—a failure that now seems to have triggered the current onslaught.
The humanitarian and economic situation, already precarious, is deteriorating rapidly. While the World Bank had projected a modest 4.7% GDP growth for Lebanon in 2025 based on stability, the return of conflict threatens to erase these fragile economic gains. Inflation remains stubborn at over 15%, and the prospect of a renewed full-scale war has sent panic through the markets. With over 100,000 Syrians having crossed into Lebanon earlier this year and food insecurity affecting over a million residents, aid agencies are warning that the country cannot withstand another major conflict.
As Israeli drones buzz over Beirut and the thud of airstrikes echoes in the south, Lebanon stands at a dangerous precipice. The international “mechanism” designed to monitor the ceasefire has failed, and with direct talks frozen, the country drifts closer to a repeat of the devastating 2024 war, but this time with a government that has promised a peace it can no longer deliver.