The Israeli military said on Thursday that its warplanes opened fire on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a missile storage facility, the first Israeli air strike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the Israeli air attack, which came hours after the Israeli army announced that it had opened fire on people who were trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said it was violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. The National News Agency in Lebanon said that two people were injured.
The successive incidents have raised concern about the agreement brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire under which Hezbollah fighters will withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces will return to their side. From the border. Lebanese forces and UN peacekeepers will patrol the buffer zone.
The official Lebanese News Agency reported on Thursday, the second day of the ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, that Israeli fire targeted civilians in a boat near the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery at three other sites near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones flying overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
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The Israeli army said in a statement that “a number of suspects were identified who arrived in vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, in violation of the terms of the ceasefire.” She said that the forces “opened fire towards them” and would “actively work to enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials said that the forces will be withdrawn gradually to ensure the implementation of the agreement. Israel warned residents against returning to areas where its forces are deployed, and said it reserves the right to attack Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said that Lebanese forces will gradually deploy in the south with the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to inform the media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 outside Gaza, when the Lebanese militant group began firing rockets, drones and projectiles in solidarity. .
Israel responded with air strikes, and the conflict escalated steadily for nearly a year before turning into all-out war in mid-September. The conflict in Gaza continues to rage with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting has killed more than 70 people in Israel – more than half of them civilians – as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
About 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began returning to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese army and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. About 50,000 people have been displaced on the Israeli side, but only a few have returned, and communities near the northern border remain largely deserted.
In Al-Manara, an Israeli community located on the border overlooking Lebanon, about three-quarters of the homes were damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burned interiors. A small number of residents were seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
Frankel reported from northern Israel. Associated Press writer Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed.
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