Hezbollah opened fire on a disputed border area controlled by Israel on Monday, after Lebanon accused the Jewish state of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days.
This is the armed group's first attack since the ceasefire with Israel took effect last week.
The Israeli military said two projectiles were launched towards Mount Dov, a disputed territory held by Israel known as the Shebaa Farms, in Lebanon, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet .
Israel assured that the projectiles fell in open areas and that no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired on an Israeli military position in the area as a “defensive response and warning” after what it called “repeated violations” of the ceasefire agreement. fire by Israel. He said complaints to mediators tasked with monitoring the ceasefire “failed to stop these violations.”
Ceasefire
A ceasefire brokered by the United States and France took effect last Wednesday, calling for a 60-day cessation of fighting, aimed at ending more than a year of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel.
Since then, Israel has carried out several strikes in Lebanon, most recently on Monday, when a drone strike killed a man on a motorcycle in southern Lebanon and another hit a Lebanese army bulldozer in the town of Hermel, in the northeast of the country, injuring a soldier.
The Lebanese army has remained on the sidelines of the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel says the strikes are a response to ceasefire violations by Hezbollah, without giving details.
During this 60-day period, Israel and Hezbollah must withdraw from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah is expected to retreat north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border. The site of Monday's drone strike on the Lebanese army bulldozer was well north of the Litani.
On Saturday, two people were killed in an airstrike in Marjayoun province, Lebanese state media reported.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday accused Israel of committing 54 ceasefire violations, including the alleged demolition of houses in border villages, persistent overflights of Israeli reconnaissance drones and airstrikes that caused victims.
Speaking to Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria, Mr Berri called for urgent intervention to put an end to what he described as “blatant violations”.
The United States and France are responsible for monitoring compliance with the agreement. Israel says it reserves the right under the agreement to respond to alleged ceasefire violations.
Israeli-American soldier dies
The Israeli military also said Monday that an Israeli-American soldier who appeared to have been taken hostage on October 7, 2023 was instead killed during the Hamas attack, but that his body was taken to the Strip. Gaza.
Omer Neutra, 21, was from New York and had enlisted in the Israeli army. He was captured during the Hamas attack in southern Israel. Mr. Neutra's parents, Ronen and Orna, led a public campaign while he was believed to be alive for their son's release.
They have spoken at protests in the United States and Israel, addressed the Republican National Convention this year and maintained ties with Joe Biden's administration in their crusade to secure their son's release.
In a statement announcing the death, the military did not say how it reached the conclusion about Mr. Neutra's fate. He was one of seven American Israelis still detained in the Gaza Strip, four of whom are now believed to be dead. Hamas released a video of one of them, Edan Alexander, over the weekend, indicating that he was still alive.
In late summer, Israel said Hamas had killed Hersh Goldberg-Polin, another Israeli-American hostage, along with five other captives, whose bodies were recovered by the Israeli military.
The war in the Gaza Strip began when Hamas-led troops stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages. Around 100 captives are still being held in the Gaza Strip, around two-thirds of whom are believed to be alive.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has left at least 44,429 Palestinians dead, more than half of whom are women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not specify how many of those deaths were fighters. Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 Hamas members, without providing evidence.
The war in the Gaza Strip has destroyed large areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often repeatedly.
