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Israeli forces pushed deeper into Lebanon during the ceasefire despite growing frustration over alleged violations of the agreement.
Thursday's Israeli incursion into Wadi al-Hujair, 8 kilometers north of the UN-defined Blue Line that marks the border between Israel and Lebanon, was accompanied by heavy machine gun fire, according to official Lebanese news, prompting residents of nearby villages to flee.
A Lebanese army official said that this incursion exceeds the maximum limit of the Israeli ground invasion in this region during the war.
The Israeli advance comes about halfway through a 60-day implementation period of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that requires the withdrawal of the Israeli army and the Hezbollah militant group from southern Lebanon.
Hostilities broke out following a Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, with Hezbollah firing into Israel in “solidarity” with the Palestinians.
Despite a truce aimed at ending more than a year of hostilities, Israeli forces have continued to strike what they say are the armed group's fighters and military assets in the southern region. Lebanese authorities say that Israeli forces have killed at least 28 people since the start of the ceasefire.
Israel's demolition of homes in the occupied border strip, using explosives or bulldozers, has become an almost daily occurrence since the ceasefire came into effect.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, expressed its “concern over the continued destruction” of residential areas, agricultural lands and road networks by Israeli forces.
The statement added, “UNIFIL continues to call for the timely withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces (instead of Hezbollah) in southern Lebanon, along with the full implementation of Resolution 1701 as a comprehensive path towards peace.” Thursday added.
So far, Israel has withdrawn from the Lebanese village of Khiam only before the advance of Lebanese army units tasked with adhering to the terms of the deal.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati this week denounced Israel's “procrastination” in withdrawing from the country, before his government lodged a formal protest with the UN Security Council over what it claimed were 816 ceasefire violations by Israel, including home demolitions.
The US-led international monitoring mechanism set up to explore any violations of the deal has yet to publicly weigh in on Israel's military actions.
Israeli officials confirmed that military operations in southern Lebanon target Hezbollah fighters, weapons caches and underground bunkers, and are permitted under the terms of the two-month ceasefire implementation period.
During a visit to an IDF site inside southern Lebanon on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz pledged “not to allow Hezbollah elements to return to southern villages and re-establish terrorist infrastructure” that would threaten northern Israeli communities.
Katz added: “If Hezbollah does not withdraw beyond the Litani and tries to violate the ceasefire, we will crush its head.”
Hezbollah has so far not responded significantly to Israeli operations in Lebanon, where analysts say the group is ill-equipped to resume war after a year of fighting that has degraded its capabilities and eliminated much of its senior leadership.
A Western diplomat familiar with Lebanese affairs said that the ceasefire would hold due to the weakness of the armed group. The diplomat added, “Hezbollah will agree to a ceasefire, and it is not in a position to confront Israel again.”
Cartography by Stephen Bernard
