Israel strikes multiple sites in Lebanon ahead of a key disarmament meeting

SIDON, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s air force struck areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in the country's third-largest city.

A strike around 1 a.m. Tuesday leveled a three-story commercial building in the southern coastal city of Sidon, a few days before Lebanon’s army commander is scheduled to brief the government on its mission of disarming militant group Hezbollah in areas along the border with Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement Tuesday condemned the attacks as counter to both international efforts to deescalate hostilities and Lebanon’s efforts to extend the government's authority into areas long dominated by Hezbollah and to disarm militants.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene in Sidon said the area was in a commercial district containing workshops and mechanic shops and the building was uninhabited.

At least one person was transported by ambulance and rescue teams were searching the site for others, but no deaths have been reported.

Israel's military said Tuesday they targeted weapons storage sites and infrastructure belonging to the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas. They acknowledged the sites were located in civilian areas but blamed the groups for operating there.

The strikes were the latest in near-daily Israeli military action since a ceasefire signed more than a year ago that included a Lebanese pledge to disarm militant groups, which Israel says has not been fulfilled.

They took place nearly two hours after Israel’s military Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted warnings on X that the military would strike targets in two villages in the eastern Bekaa Valley and two others in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said a home struck in the village of Manara in the Bekaa Valley belonged to Sharhabil al-Sayed, a Hamas military commander who was killed in an Israeli drone strike in May 2024.

The areas were evacuated after Israel's warning. There were no reports of casualties in those strikes. Earlier Monday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said a drone strike on a car in the southern village of Braikeh earlier Monday wounded two people. The Israeli military said the strike targeted two Hezbollah members.

The Lebanese army last year began the disarmament process of Palestinian groups while the government has said that by the end of 2025 all the areas close to the border with Israel — known as the south Litani area — will be clear of Hezbollah’s armed presence.

The Lebanese government is scheduled to discuss Hezbollah’s disarmament during a meeting Thursday that will be attended by army commander Gen. Rudolph Haikal.

Monday’s airstrikes were in villages north of the Litani river and far from the border with Israel.

The disarmament of Hezbollah and other Palestinian groups by the Lebanese government came after a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah in which much of the political and military leadership of the Iran-backed group was killed.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September 2024 that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.

The war ended in November 2024 with a ceasefire brokered by the U.S.

Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing at least 127 civilians, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

People check a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike at a commercial district, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People check a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike at a commercial district in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People check the site where an Israeli strike destroyed a building at a commercial district in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People look through the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike at a commercial district in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese fire fighter extinguish a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Rescue workers search for possible victims in a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese Red Cross volunteers search for possible victims in a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Mukesh Awasti was all set to leave for Australia to pursue a degree in civil engineering on a sunny day in September, but instead he joined a youth revolt against corruption in Nepal and lost his leg after being shot by security forces.

Lying on a hospital bed at the National Trauma Center in the capital Kathmandu where his leg was amputated, 22-year-old Awasti said he regrets giving up so much for the little that has been achieved after the sacrifices of so many people.

Violent protests in Kathmandu that began Sept. 8 left 76 people dead and more than 2,300 injured before the demonstrations fueled by “Gen Z” activists forced the appointment on Sept. 12 of Nepal's first female prime minister, Sushila Karki, a retired Supreme Court judge who has promised fresh elections in March.

Since then, the interim government and its leader have come under criticism from many of the people who took part in the protests and expected major changes in the Himalayan nation.

“I am regretting my decision to take part in the protest because they have been zero achievement from the new government we brought which has failed us,” Awasti said. “There should be end to corruption which has not happened and the people who opened fire on the demonstrations should have been arrested but that that has also not happened either.”

So far the government's anti-graft agency has filed one significant corruption case that does not include key political figures. The politicians accused of corruption by protesters are preparing to contest upcoming elections and there has been no case filed against leaders who were in power when protesters were injured in September.

Dozens of demonstrators, including some who were injured in September, recently have protested against the government they brought to power. These protests outside the prime minister's office has been held in the past few weeks with police forced to break some of them.

“We are back here in the street because the government has failed to live up to their promise. There are so many families of those who lost their lives and many who were injured but what has the government done? Nothing," said Suman Bohara, who walks with crutches on a shattered right foot. "We are here because we are compelled to.”

Tens of thousands of mostly young demonstrators first gathered in Kathmandu on Sept. 8 to protest widespread corruption, lack of opportunities, employment and poor governance, which was triggered by a ban on social media. They broke through police barricades and attempted to enter parliament, only to be shot by security forces.

A day later, the protests spread across the country. Angry mobs burned down the offices of the prime minister and president, police stations and the homes of top politicians who were forced to flee on army helicopters. The army eventually stepped in to restore control and negotiations ended with Karki's appointment and the key task of conducting parliamentary elections.

The government has said it is determined to meet that goal.

“As the world is looking forward to a smooth change in government through our elections on March 5, I want to assure that we will deliver these elections,” Karki said. “Our preparations are almost complete, and the security environment has improved a lot with our security apparatus is assured enough.”

Different demands have emerged from separate groups among the young protesters including direct election of prime ministers, scrapping the present constitution and jailing all previous politicians. There is no single leader or group but rather several individuals who have claimed to represent Nepal’s voice in the Gen Z movement.

The lack of clarity among the protesters since September has been a key hurdle in Nepal, according to analysts.

“All the confusion right now in Nepal is because of the lack of clarity among the Gen Z groups on what they are demanding and how the government was formed,” said Abeeral Thapa, principal of Polygon College of Journalism and Mass Communications in Kathmandu.

Some are beginning to oppose the planned elections in March, saying their protest was not intended only to bring about elections for a new Parliament, while their demands to end corruption and arrest all the corrupt politicians should be fulfilled immediately.

Other groups seek elections that would bring new lawmakers who would perform all these tasks.

It has not been clear how powerful the government is and the limitations on a mandate to fulfill all the demands from the people who brought the interim leaders to office. When appointing the interim government, the president mentioned that the key purpose was to conduct elections for Parliament.

Thapa noted Nepal’s constitution does not have a specific provision for forming an interim government. A line in the document reads, “The main duty of the President shall be to abide and protect the constitution.”

“The protests were not well planned to begin with, they began with controlling corruption and end the ban on social media,” Thapa said. “But in reality what happened was like they had gone deer hunting but ended up killing a tiger, with the protest taking a major turn with the government collapsing.”

It remains doubtful the promised election in March can be held, but there are no alternatives to polls, Thapa said.

Members of Gen Z protest groups are joined by injured victims and family members of those who died during September protests at a candlelight vigil outside the Parliament building in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

FILE - Nepal's new Prime Minister Sushila Karki waits as ministers prepare to take the oath of office administered by Nepali President Ram Chandra Poudel at the presidential building in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

FILE - Protesters celebrate at the parliament building after it was set on fire during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Prakash Timalsina, File)

Mukesh Awasti, 22, who took part in September protests against corruption in Nepal and lost his leg after being shot by security forces, lies on a hospital bed during treatment in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepalese police detain a young protester during an anti-government rally in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)