Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire cracking
Lebanese-based Hezbollah has struck back against alleged Israeli ceasefire violations for the first time since the fragile truce took hold last week, the militant group said on Monday. Hours later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced airstrikes on dozens of missile launchers and infrastructure in Lebanon.
Israel has conducted daily attacks on Lebanon, starting the day after the ceasefire agreement between the Jewish state and Hezbollah came into force last Wednesday.
Hezbollah launched a “preliminary defensive response” to the attacks, targeting an Israeli-held site in the Golan Heights, the group said in a statement cited by Beirut-based TV channel Al Mayadeen on Monday.
The IDF reported that the Lebanese military group fired two mortar shells toward Har Dov. Under international law, the site is considered Syrian territory, currently occupied by Israel.
The IDF also struck “dozens of launchers and terrorist infrastructure throughout Lebanon,” including the launch site of the Hezbollah attack, the IDF said in a statement on Monday night.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar claimed the Israeli strikes are enforcing, rather than violating, the ceasefire.
“Israel is not violating the ceasefire understandings but rather enforcing them in response to Hezbollah’s violations,” Sa’ar said on X on Monday.
Israel has broken the ceasefire “approximately 100” times since the agreement took hold, CNN reported, citing an anonymous source in the UN peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon, UNIFIL.
US officials have expressed concern about the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory, Axios reported, citing anonymous sources. The situation could spiral into a collapse of the temporary peace, according to one official.
The hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel escalated in October 2023 when the militant group began sporadically shelling Israeli territories, proclaiming solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.
Israel announced a “limited ground operation” into southern Lebanon in early October while intensifying airstrikes against Beirut and other cities. The IDF killed several high-ranking figures in the Hezbollah leadership during the strikes, including the group’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the IDF must withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days, ceding control of held territory to the Lebanese army, while an international committee will be tasked with adjudicating violation complaints.
