airstrike on Lebanon's Baalbeck region despite truce with Israel

An airstrike targeted the Baalbeck region in eastern Lebanon at dawn on Wednesday, «violation» of the fragile truce observed by the Israeli army and Hezbollah, reported the Lebanese national news agency ANI.

The ceasefire between Israel and the armed pro-Iranian Islamist movement came into force on November 27, after two months of open war against a backdrop of regional tensions in the Middle East, fueled by the conflict in Gaza. The truce generally holds despite mutual accusations of repeated violations.

“First violation of the agreement”

Wednesday's raid, on a building near the town of Tarya, “did not cause any casualties”specifies ANI, describing the incident as “first violation of the ceasefire agreement” in Baalbeck.

Speaking anonymously, a local security source told AFP that the strike, around 2:40 a.m. (after midnight GMT), targeted “warehouses which allegedly belong to Hezbollah”.

A committee bringing together France, the United States, Lebanon, Israel and the UN peacekeepers of UNIFIL was set up to monitor the application of the ceasefire and potential violations on both sides.

Lebanese authorities have called for pressure on Israel to stop what they describe as violations. For its part, the Israeli army reported on Sunday the destruction in Lebanese territory “weapons storage facilities”saying to act “in accordance with the ceasefire and agreements between Israel and Lebanon”.

“Put pressure on the Israeli enemy”

“So that the (Lebanese) army can fully accomplish its missions, the committee must (…) put pressure on the Israeli enemy to put an end to all violations”Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati insisted again on Monday.

The same day, UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, called for “an acceleration of the withdrawal of the Israeli army” from southern Lebanon.

Under the truce agreement, the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers are to deploy to southern Lebanon and the Israeli army to withdraw over a period of 60 days.