Israel continues to strike South Lebanon, Mikati wants “long-term stability”

The Israeli army continued to carry out strikes on Thursday in several localities in South Lebanon, once again violating the ceasefire that came into force on November 27. It is in this context that the outgoing Prime Minister, Nagib Mikati , emphasized the need to “achieve long-term stability”, while Hezbollah assured that it “does not want a collapse of the ceasefire”.

“The ceasefire agreement is a sort of mechanism for the implementation of resolution 1701. Our priority is long-term stability and the election of a President of the Republic,” said Mr. . Mikati, during a meeting with the outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib. He also stressed that the goal of his government is “to achieve long-term stability, and to ensure that the State is the only reference and that the army is the authority present on the ground” .

In his second speech since the ceasefire came into force, Hezbollah Secretary General Naïm Kassem reiterated that his party “won” in his eyes, affirming that “the agreement is a mechanism of implementation of resolution 1701. This is not a new agreement. It calls for Israel’s withdrawal from all Lebanese territory and an end to its aggression. He prohibited the presence of armies south of the Litani. This is an agreement specifically for the region south of the Litani River,” said the leader of the Shiite party. “We are at approximately over 60 violations by Israel. We believe that it is up to the Lebanese authorities to ensure compliance with the agreement,” he added.

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For his part, Hezbollah deputy and former minister, Hussein Hajj Hassan, affirmed that “the resistance (the Shiite party) does not want a collapse of the ceasefire”, in an interview with the Russian media Sputnik. The parliamentarian also explained that the strikes claimed by Hezbollah in the contested areas of the Chebaa farms and the Kfarchouba hills, in South Lebanon, three days ago, had been launched “in response to Israeli violations”.

Drones and bombings

On the ground, Thursday afternoon, an Israeli drone launched two grenades on the Al-Baydar neighborhood in Majdel Zoun (Tyr), according to residents cited by our correspondent in South Lebanon, Mountasser Abdallah. Sounds of explosions coming from the neighboring village of Tayr Harfa (Tyr) were also heard by residents of Majdel Zoun and could be due to the dynamiting of homes by the Israeli army.

Israeli drones were spotted over Jabal al-Rihane (Jezzine), while fighter jets flew over southern Lebanon during the day, arriving as far as Saida.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli artillery shelled the road from Aïn Arab to Wazzani (caza de Hasbaya). An ammunition fired by Israel in Chabriha (caza of Tyre) which had not exploded ended up detonating, injuring a 15-year-old child who was playing nearby.

Civil Defense teams from Naqoura (caza of Tyre) were also the target of artillery fire while they were clearing the rubble. Israeli forces also detonated a booby-trapped drone near them, forcing them to withdraw. The Lebanese army, for its part, detonated munitions left by the Israeli army in the northern outskirts of Aïnata (Bint Jbeil).

Thursday morning, a new explosion was heard in Yaroun (Bint Jbeil), while public funerals were organized in the village of Kherbet Selm, also in the caza of Bint Jbeil, to honor around ten “martyrs”, including several Hezbollah fighters.

The night from Wednesday to Thursday was disturbed by a handful of incidents, against a backdrop of drone flights in several villages. A loud explosion was heard and seen in the evening in Yaroun, probably caused by the dynamiting of a house by the Israeli army. After midnight, Israeli fighter jets attacked a position along the Litani, between Yohmor and Zaoutar Tahta, in the Nabatiyé caza.

Israeli army bans

Hezbollah channel Al-Manar reported that after the Lebanese army entered the town of Chebaa (caza de Hasbaya), Israeli army bulldozers, accompanied by Merkava tanks, destroyed the road connecting the locality to the area of ​​Birket el-Naqqar, adjacent to the contested territories of the Chebaa farms. According to the channel, the Lebanese army was unable to return to the position it occupied before the war due to the Israeli maneuver.

On , Chaqra, Baraachit, Yatar and Mansouri, distributed in the cazas of Hasbaya, Marjeyoun, Bint Jbeil and Tyr. A ban issued every day since the ceasefire came into force.

The al-Rissala scouts association, affiliated with the Shiite Amal movement, announced Thursday the start of search operations in the rubble of the town of Chamaa, in the district of Tire, and claims to have recovered the bodies of several victims .