Israel bombed targets in Lebanon on Monday evening after shots claimed by Hezbollah, the first since the entry into force of the fragile ceasefire agreement concluded after two months of open war and which the two parties accuse each other of violate.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “serious violation” the shooting by the Lebanese pro-Iranian movement towards a disputed area on the borders of Lebanon and the part of the Syrian Golan occupied and annexed by Israel, promising to “ react forcefully.”
In the evening, the army announced that it had struck dozens of Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including “terrorist launch pads and infrastructure.” Lebanese official media reported strikes on areas of southern Lebanon far from the border, notably on “the surroundings of the town of Jbaa”, around twenty kilometers from the border. At least 9 people were killed, the Health Ministry later announced.
Alerts to stop these attacks
The United States, Israel's main ally, said the truce held and that it was looking into accusations from both sides. “The ceasefire holds,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Previously, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah and who negotiated the truce on its behalf, had affirmed that Israel had violated “at least 54 times” the ceasefire which entered into force on November 27 . He called on the committee overseeing the truce, which includes the United States and France, “to urgently take action and force Israel to stop its violations and withdraw” from Lebanese territory.
The head of French diplomacy, Jean-Noël Barrot, insisted Monday with 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 violating the ceasefire. “On the contrary, Israel enforces it” in response “to Hezbollah’s violations which call for immediate action,” he said.
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 Israel’s “violations” of the ceasefire, he said.
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, according to him, targeted “an army base in Har Dov”, the Hebrew name for the Shebaa Farms.
Repeating Israeli strikes
Several Israeli strikes have targeted Lebanon since the ceasefire came into force, without Hezbollah announcing any response until then.
During the day, an Israeli drone targeted a Lebanese military post 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, close to the border, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Sponsored by the United States and France, the ceasefire agreement, which ended 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 launching a massive aerial bombardment campaign against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, for its part, must retreat north of the Litani River, around 30 km 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,” Gideon 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 formation had opened a “support front” 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.
