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On Monday night, Israel bombed dozens of targets across Lebanon after Hezbollah shelled Israeli-controlled territory in an exchange of fire that put serious strain on a truce between the two sides.
Lebanon’s state news agency reported that Israeli airstrikes hit several locations in the country’s southern regions, some within 50 km of the border with Israel.
Israel said the strikes targeted Hezbollah fighters, rocket launchers and infrastructure. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least nine people were killed in the blasts.
This was followed by a salvo from the Israel Defense Forces Hezbollah on Monday fired two rockets at an Israeli position in the disputed area of Shebaa Farm, in what Lebanese militants said was a “defensive response” to Israel’s “repeated” violations of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement.
Israel has carried out several strikes since the ceasefire took effect last Wednesday, killing at least 13 people in Lebanon, including one member of the Lebanese security forces, according to the health ministry.
Israeli drones have also flown over Beirut several times in the past few days, including during IDF strikes on Monday night.
The Israeli military has said that despite the airstrikes, it remains “bound” to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
But the outbreak highlighted the fragility of the accord, which raised hopes of an end to the deadliest confrontation between the two sides in decades.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israeli forces must withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days and be replaced by the Lebanese army.
Hezbollah must withdraw beyond the Litani River, which flows up to 30 km north of the disputed border between Israel and Lebanon.
Israel insists it reserves the right to unilaterally enforce the agreement through military action, which the Lebanese dispute.
Ahead of Monday’s Israeli airstrikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would respond to “any violation by Hezbollah” of the ceasefire agreement. “Minor will be treated as major,” he added.
It is still unclear how violations will be handled. In recent days, officials from the US and France, which are supposed to play a central role in enforcing the ceasefire, have expressed concern about the violations.
A French diplomatic source said Paris had “warned both sides of actions that jeopardize the implementation of the ceasefire agreement”.
A spokesman for the Biden administration, Amos Hochstein, who played a crucial role in brokering the truce, also conveyed to Israeli officials his concern about Israel’s violations of the agreement.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, said Lebanon had recorded at least 54 violations by Israel of the ceasefire since it came into effect, and called for a committee to oversee its implementation to “urgently” begin work.
“The aggressive actions of the Israeli occupation forces are a gross violation of the terms of the ceasefire,” he added.
However, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar insisted that Israel is not violating the agreement, “rather, it is enforcing it in response to violations by Hezbollah.”
“The presence of Hezbollah operatives south of Litani is a fundamental violation of the agreement and they should move north,” he said.
