Deadly Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon after Hezbollah attacks, testing shaky ceasefire

(CNN) — Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese authorities said Monday, the deadliest day since a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France came into effect last week.

The strikes in the Nabatiyeh governorate near the Israeli border killed five people in the town of Haris and four in the town of Tallousa, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. Three people were injured, it added.

But the uneasy truce between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah appeared to be holding — even as the two sides accused each other of breaching the deal.

Hezbollah on Monday fired two projectiles toward Israeli-occupied territory, responding to repeated Israeli strikes that have hit Lebanon daily since Thursday, the day after the ceasefire came into force.

The projectiles landed in an open area and no one was injured, according to the Israeli military. It did not specify the type of projectile fired.

Hours later, Israel’s military said it began striking “Hezbollah terrorists, dozens of launchers, and terrorist infrastructure throughout Lebanon,” after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate, calling Hezbollah’s attack “a serious violation of the ceasefire.”

Lebanese state media also reported that Israeli drones flew low over Beirut and its southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. CNN teams on the ground reported hearing a drone flying low over the Lebanese capital.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said earlier Monday that its own cross-border strikes, despite the ceasefire, had been “in response to several acts by Hezbollah in Lebanon that posed a threat to Israeli civilians, in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.” It said it had struck military vehicles at a Hezbollah missile manufacturing site in the Beqaa Valley and tunnels near the Syrian border in northern Lebanon.

The United States and France have both warned Israel they believe it has violated the ceasefire terms, according to CNN affiliate Kan and Israeli news outlet Ynet.

A source with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Israel has breached its ceasefire agreement with Lebanon “approximately 100” times since the truce went into effect last week. CNN has asked the IDF for comment.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told his French counterpart in a phone call that his country is, in fact, enforcing the ceasefire – which stipulates Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the Israel-Lebanon border area – rather than violating it, Sa’ar said on X Monday.

“The presence of Hezbollah operatives south of (Lebanon’s) Litani is a fundamental violation of the agreement and they must move north,” Sa’ar said, adding that Israel is “committed to the successful implementation of the ceasefire understandings.”

Hezbollah, in a statement, said it targeted Israeli military positions “in light of the repeated violations initiated by the Israeli enemy of the ceasefire agreement.” Hezbollah accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire by “firing on civilians and airstrikes in different parts of Lebanon, resulting in the martyrdom of citizens and injuries to others, in addition to the continued violation of Lebanese airspace by hostile Israeli aircraft reaching the capital, Beirut.”

The IDF said the two Hezbollah projectiles were fired toward Shebaa Farms, known in Israel as Har Dov (Mount Dov), which under international law is considered occupied Syrian territory. Israel seized Shebaa Farms, along with the Golan Heights, from Syria after it was attacked in 1967. The US recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019.

A shaky start

Since the early hours of last week’s ceasefire, both sides have accused each other of violations — and the escalating tensions risk endangering the agreement altogether.

A senior Israeli official said Friday that the military intends to aggressively and unilaterally act against any ceasefire violations by Hezbollah.

Unilateral Israeli military action to enforce the ceasefire was not enshrined in the agreement between Israel and Lebanon, but the US provided Israel with a separate letter that provided assurances about the Jewish state’s right to act under certain scenarios, Israeli officials told CNN earlier.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday that the truce has not broken down. “Broadly speaking,” the ceasefire “has been successful,” he said.

“Obviously, when you have any ceasefire, you can see violations of it,” Miller acknowledged. He noted that the US and France had set up a mechanism “to look at all of these reports of violations of the ceasefire and deal with them through the channels that the mechanisms set up, and that’s what we’ll do over the coming days.”

Miller would not say whether the US had determined that any of the alleged violations breached the truce, saying the work was ongoing. He also would not comment on reports that US envoy Amos Hochstein had raised violations in a letter to the Israeli government.

The ceasefire deal stipulates a 60-day cessation of hostilities, which negotiators have described as the foundation of a lasting truce. During that time, Hezbollah fighters are expected to retreat some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Israel-Lebanon border, while Israeli ground forces withdraw from Lebanese territory.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last all-out war between the two sides in 2006, has been the basis of the deal and the negotiations have mainly revolved around the treaty’s enforcement.

Under the agreement, Lebanon would implement a more rigorous supervision of Hezbollah’s movements south of the Litani river, to prevent militants from regrouping there.

UN peacekeeping troops, the Lebanese military, and a multinational committee are tasked with supervising the Iran-backed group’s movements.

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