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Shooting in Lebanon: Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other of violating the fragile truce agreement
Israel promised to respond to the shots claimed Monday by Hezbollah, the first since the entry into force of the fragile ceasefire agreement in Lebanon concluded after two months of open war and which the two parties accuse each other of violating. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “serious violation” the shooting by the Lebanese Islamist movement towards a disputed area on the borders of Lebanon and the part of the Syrian Golan occupied and annexed by Israel, promising to “respond with force” . Previously, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah and who negotiated the truce on its behalf, claimed that Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement that entered into force on “at least 54 occasions.” on November 27.Mr. Berri called on the committee responsible for supervising the truce, which includes the United States and France, “to urgently begin its action and force Israel to stop its violations and withdraw” from Lebanese territory. The head of French diplomacy, Jean -Noël Barrot, insisted Monday to his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, on “the need for all parties to respect the ceasefire”, his ministry indicated. The Israeli minister rejected any accusation of violation of the ceasefire by his country. “On the contrary, Israel is enforcing it” in response “to Hezbollah’s violations which call for immediate action,” he said in a filmed statement. Hezbollah then said it had fired on an Israeli military position, on “the occupied hills of Kfar Chouba”, an area neighboring the Shebaa Farms and currently under the control of the Israeli army. This is a “first defensive response” to “violations” of the ceasefire by Israel, he said in a statement. The Israeli army reported “two projectiles” which did not cause any injuries. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz promised a “strong response” to Hezbollah fire which he said targeted “an army base in Har Dov”, the Hebrew name for the Shebaa Farms. Several Israeli strikes have targeted Lebanon since the ceasefire came into force, without Hezbollah announcing a response until then. – “Freedom of action” – On Monday, an Israeli drone targeted a post of the Lebanese Armed Forces in Hermel, in the eastern Bekaa plain, far from the border with Israel, injuring a soldier, according to the Lebanese army. A man was also killed by an Israeli drone strike on the village of Marjayoun, near the border in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said. According to the Lebanese news agency Ani, he was traveling on a motorcycle. The Israeli army claimed to have “targeted military vehicles which were operating in the area of a Hezbollah missile manufacturing site in the Bekaa”. It added that it had “struck terrorist infrastructure sites used for arms smuggling near the Syrian-Lebanese border in the Hermel region”, and indicated “investigating” the circumstances in which the soldier Lebanese was injured. She also claimed to have carried out “several strikes in response to Hezbollah terrorists” in southern Lebanon. Sponsored by the United States and France, the ceasefire agreement, which end to two months of open war between Israel and Hezbollah, provides for the withdrawal within 60 days of the Israeli army from Lebanon. Israeli soldiers entered southern Lebanon on September 30, a week after having launched a campaign of massive aerial bombardments against the Lebanese Islamist movement. Hezbollah must for its part retreat north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.” “The presence of Hezbollah agents south of the Litani constitutes a fundamental violation of the agreement and they must move north,” Saar said on X. As soon as the agreement was announced, Israel said it reserved “complete freedom of military action” in Lebanon, if Hezbollah “violated” the ceasefire and “attempted to rearm”. The training opened a “front of support” for Hamas after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against southern Israel, which triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. lar-aya-bur/mj/sg
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