By Mireille Rebeiz, Dickinson College

(THE CONVERSATION) Within a span of two weeks from late April to early May 2025, Israel launched two aerial attacks ostensibly targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon: The first, on April 27, struck a building in Beirut's southern suburbs; the second, an assault in southern Lebanon, left one person dead and eight others injured.

An Israeli drone strike on Thursday targeted a bulldozer near a factory between the southern towns of Yohmor al-Shaqif and Arnoun, causing one casualty, the National News Agency said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday pointed out that U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia and the political steps decided “prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the right path leading to a Palestinian state."

Lebanon’s central Roumieh Prison has witnessed rioting on Wednesday and Thursday coinciding with a legislative session in parliament.

Parliament on Thursday approved an urgent draft law doubling the penalty of illegal shooting into the air, which was proposed by MP Ashraf Baydoun.

Israeli drones on Thursday dropped percussion bombs on the destroyed school in the southern town of al-Dhayra and on a home in the southern border town of Kfar Kila.

U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. will ease sanctions on Syria could eventually facilitate the country's recovery from years of civil war and transform the lives of everyday Syrians.

But experts say it will take time, and the process for lifting the sanctions — some of which were first introduced 47 years ago — is unclear.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has protested at "direct fire" by the Israeli military at one of its positions, the first since a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

The latest stances of Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem were “realistic,” Lebanese Presidency sources said.

MP Hassan Fadlallah on Wednesday categorically denied that Hezbollah was behind an attempt to smuggle gold through the Rafik Hariri International Airport, urging authorities to reveal to public opinion all the details related to the allegations.