Lebanon accuses Israel, which blames Hezbollah, of violating truce

Photo: Agence France-Presse Sponsored by the United States and France, the ceasefire agreement, which ended two months of open warfare between Israel and Hezbollah, provides for the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanon within 60 days.

Agence France-Presse in Beirut

Published at 10:28

• Middle East

Lebanon on Monday accused Israel of “flagrant violation” of a ceasefire with Hezbollah, while Israel rejected the accusations, saying the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement had violated the agreement, following Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah who brokered the truce on its behalf, said Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on November 27 “at least 54 times.”

He called on the committee responsible for supervising the truce, which includes the United States and France, “to urgently begin its action and force Israel to stop its violations and withdraw” from 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 in Lebanon,” his ministry said.

The Israeli minister for his part rejected accusations of violation of the ceasefire.

“On the contrary, Israel is enforcing it” in response “to the violations of Hezbollah which call for immediate action,” he declared in a press release.

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Several Israeli strikes have targeted Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect. Hezbollah has not announced any response.

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“Freedom of action”

On Monday, an Israeli drone targeted a Lebanese army post in Hermel, a region in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon far from the border with Israel, injuring a soldier, according to the army.

A man was also killed by an Israeli drone strike on the village of Marjayoun, near the border in southern Lebanon, the Health Ministry said.

The Lebanese news agency Ani said the man was riding a motorcycle.

The Israeli army said it had “targeted military vehicles operating in the area of ​​a Hezbollah missile manufacturing site in the Bekaa.”

It added that it had “struck terrorist infrastructure sites used for arms smuggling near the Syrian-Lebanese border in the Hermel region,” and said it was “investigating” the circumstances in which the Lebanese soldier was killed. injured.

She also claimed to have carried out “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 warfare between Israel and Hezbollah, calls for the Israeli military to withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days.

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, is to withdraw north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

“The presence of Hezbollah operatives south of the Litani River constitutes a fundamental violation of the agreement and they must move to the “North,” Mr. Saar said on X, emphasizing his country's commitment “to successfully implement” the ceasefire.

As soon as the agreement was announced, Israel had said it would reserve “complete freedom of military action” in Lebanon, if Hezbollah “violated” the ceasefire and “tried to rearm.”

The group 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.