Israel promised to respond to the shootings claimed this 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. .
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as “violation grave” the shooting of the Lebanese Islamist movement towards a contested area on the borders of Lebanon and the part of the Syrian Golan occupied and annexed by Israel, promising to “react with force”. Previously, the President of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berrian ally of Hezbollah and which negotiated the truce on its behalf, had claimed that Israel had violated “at least 54 times” the ceasefire agreement entered into force on November 27. Mr. Berri 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” of 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”indicated his ministry. The Israeli minister rejected any accusation of violation of the ceasefire by his country. “On the contrary, Israel enforces it” in response “violations by Hezbollah which call for immediate action”he said in a filmed statement.
Hezbollah then said it had fired on an Israeli military position, “the occupied hills of Kfar Chouba”an area neighboring the Chebaa Farms and currently under the control of the Israeli army. This is a “first defensive response” to “violations” ceasefire by Israel, he said in a statement.
The Israeli army reported “two projectiles” who did not cause any injuries.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has promised a “strong response” to Hezbollah fire which, according to him, was aimed “an army base at Har Dov”the Hebrew name of Chebaa Farms.
Several Israeli strikes have targeted Lebanon since the ceasefire came into force, without Hezbollah announcing any 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 operating in the area of a Hezbollah missile manufacturing site in the Bekaa”.
She added that she “hit terrorist infrastructure sites used for arms smuggling near the Syrian-Lebanese border in the Hermel region”and indicated “investigate” on the circumstances in which the Lebanese soldier was injured.
She also claimed to have conducted “several strikes in response to Hezbollah terrorists” in southern Lebanon.
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 the Lebanese Islamist movement.
Hezbollah, for its part, must retreat north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in southern Lebanon. “The presence of Hezbollah operatives south of the Litani constitutes a fundamental violation of the agreement and they must move north”said Mr. Saar on X.
As soon as the agreement was announced, Israel said it reserved “complete freedom of military action” in Lebanon, if Hezbollah “violait” the ceasefire and “tried 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.
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