The Parliament of Lebanon voted Monday to extend its term by two years as the growing regional conflict involving Israel, Iran and the United States continues to destabilize the region and intensify fighting in Lebanon.
According to Lebanon’s state news agency, 76 lawmakers supported the extension while 41 voted against and four abstained. The 13-member parliamentary bloc belonging to Hezbollah backed the move.
Officials said the decision was largely driven by the ongoing war with Israel, which has displaced more than half a million people and made it difficult to organize nationwide elections that had originally been scheduled for May.
At the same time, the Israeli military expanded its operations inside Lebanon, announcing it was targeting Hezbollah’s financial network, including the group’s financial arm Al-Qard Al-Hasan.
Airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburb known as Dahiyeh after residents were ordered to evacuate. One strike destroyed a building housing an office of Al-Qard Al-Hasan in the Chiyah district, sending smoke rising over Beirut. A journalist at the scene was reportedly injured and taken to a nearby hospital.
Additional airstrikes followed in nearby areas, prompting Lebanese troops to close roads around locations linked to Al-Qard Al-Hasan branches to protect civilians.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of using the financial institution to fund its military operations and has targeted several of its branches in southern and eastern Lebanon in recent days.
Meanwhile, Israeli ground forces launched what the military described as “focused raids” in southern Lebanon using a brigade combat team under the command of the Israel Defense Forces’ 36th Division.
The Israeli army said the operation aimed to eliminate Hezbollah fighters and dismantle the group’s infrastructure. The raid was preceded by combined air and ground strikes in the area.
Hezbollah responded by firing anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops inside Lebanon and launching rockets toward the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, describing the attacks as retaliation for Israeli strikes on Lebanese towns and villages.
The militant group also claimed it prevented an attempted Israeli helicopter landing in the eastern Lebanese town of Nabi Chit, an area where Israeli commandos recently searched for the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli navigator missing for nearly four decades after his aircraft crashed in Lebanon. Israeli military officials said they were not aware of any new helicopter landing attempt.
The latest escalation between Israel and Hezbollah began on Feb. 2 after the group launched rockets and drones toward northern Israel following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a joint U.S.–Israeli strike days earlier.
Lebanon’s government has since declared Hezbollah’s military operations illegal and ordered security forces to detain individuals involved in attacks against Israel.
Meanwhile, rights groups have raised concerns over Israel’s military tactics in the conflict. Human Rights Watch said in a report Monday that Israeli forces used white phosphorus shells during strikes on the southern Lebanese village of Yohmor.
Using verified imagery, the organization said artillery shells containing white phosphorus were fired into residential areas hours after Israeli forces warned residents in several villages to evacuate.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of the alleged use of white phosphorus in Lebanon but maintained that any such munitions are used in accordance with international law.
Human rights advocates warn that the substance can ignite fires and cause severe burns when used in populated areas. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have previously accused Israeli forces of deploying the munition during earlier fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
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