The Israeli Defense Forces hit more than 70 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on May 25, unleashing over 85 munitions in a single day of intensified operations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered what he called an “even greater acceleration” of military activity against the militant group, effectively burying a US-brokered ceasefire that had been in place since April 16.
The strikes concentrated on roughly 10 command centers and ammunition depots in the Tyre region. It was the most significant single-day escalation since the ceasefire took effect just over five weeks ago.
A ceasefire that never really held
The April 16 ceasefire was supposed to pause hostilities that had been raging, off and on, since the broader conflict reignited in October 2023. In practice, low-level clashes never stopped.
The trigger appears to have been a sustained Hezbollah offensive involving sophisticated fiber-optic drones. Over an eight-day period leading up to the Israeli strikes, Hezbollah reportedly launched more than 1,000 drones and 700 rockets.
