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Israel’s military has carried out several airstrikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon, stepping up recent attacks after claims that the international body overseeing a ceasefire with the militant group had failed to respond to their concerns.
Israel said a rocket launcher, a military site and smuggling routes on the Syria-Lebanon border “used to transfer weapons to Hezbollah” were among the sites targeted.
It follows another Israeli airstrike this weekend that killed five people in southern Lebanon. That brought the total death toll in Lebanon since the November ceasefire to 37, according to the Financial Times, underscoring how Israel has repeatedly used lethal force to secure what it sees as the terms of the deal.
The airstrikes come less than two weeks before a deadline for the Israeli army and Hezbollah to withdraw from southern Lebanon as part of a ceasefire and be replaced by the Lebanese Armed Forces.
On Monday, Israeli surveillance planes were seen over southern Lebanon as its forces continued to detonate buildings and conduct combing operations there. So far, Israel has withdrawn from only 11 of the dozens of Lebanese cities it still holds.
In a statement, the Israeli military said its strikes were “in accordance with the ceasefire agreement”, which requires Hezbollah to dismantle its remaining military infrastructure south of the Litani River and withdraw its forces about 30 km inland from the border with Israel.
Israel said it acted only after raising its concerns about those specific locations with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism — an international body made up of officials from the Lebanese and Israeli armed forces, the US and France, as well as UN peacekeeping missions in Lebanon — “without taking any action to resolve them.”
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group came into effect on November 27 after more than a year of cross-border fire, which began after Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel “in solidarity” with Gaza on October 8, 2023.
Almost a year later, Israel launched an expanded air and ground offensive against Hezbollah, which killed more than 4,000 people and devastated large swaths of the country’s south and east.
Israel’s campaign also decimated the militant group’s ranks after the assassination of veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah, leaving it reeling. More than 140 Israeli civilians and soldiers were also killed.
Lebanon has cited hundreds of ceasefire violations since the ceasefire, including airstrikes and ground operations targeting what Israel says are bases belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of trying to move weapons before the Lebanese army can seize and destroy them.
Earlier this month, UN peacekeepers accused Israel of “flagrant violations” of Security Council Resolution 1701, which forms the basis of the ceasefire agreement.
Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Hezbollah has yet to fully withdraw across the Litani River. Israel also accuses Hezbollah of repeated ceasefire violations.
“If this condition is not met, there will be no agreement – and Israel will be forced to act alone to ensure the safe return of the northerners [of Israel] to their homes,” Katz told the IDF Northern Command.
IDF officials also said the Lebanese armed forces may need more time to demilitarize the country’s south, prompting some Lebanese officials to question whether Israel wants to extend the ceasefire.
Hezbollah, for years the dominant political and military force in Lebanon that has been severely reduced during 14 months of brutal war, has threatened to resume fighting if Israel does not fully withdraw its forces by January 26.
Lebanon was in the process of forming a new government this week, following the appointment of Joseph Aoun as president last week.
Aoun, commander of the Lebanese armed forces, was instrumental in implementing the ceasefire. As president, he promised to fully implement it and pledged to work on a “national security strategy” that would “enable the Lebanese state… to remove the Israeli occupation and repel its aggression.”
He added that he would work to give the state a “monopoly” on the right to bear arms, apparently referring to Hezbollah forces.
Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv
