Hezbollah and Israel trade strikes, further testing cease-fire

JERUSALEM — Hezbollah fired at Israeli-controlled territory Monday for the first time since a cease-fire was reached last week, prompting Israel to launch a wave of airstrikes in Lebanon, as each side blamed the other for violating the tenuous truce.

The Israeli military said two Hezbollah projectiles fell in open areas without causing casualties. They hit a strip of land called Shebaa Farms — Mount Dov to Israelis — that was seized by Israel in the 1967 war, but is claimed by both Israel and Lebanon.

The Lebanese armed group said its launches had been prompted by “repeated violations of the agreement by the Israeli enemy,” describing it as “an initial defensive response that serves as a warning.”

In response, the Israeli military said it had bombarded sites “throughout Lebanon,” including dozens of missile launchers. Israeli airstrikes killed at least 10 people and wounded three others in Lebanon on Monday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Since the cease-fire agreement was announced last week, the Israeli military has repeatedly bombarded Lebanon in attacks it says target Hezbollah militants breaching the cease-fire. The truce — mediated by the United States and France — ended more than a year of fighting.

At least for now, the agreement has mostly held. Neither side appears eager to return to the war, which killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon and 100 Israelis, displaced over 1 million Lebanese and turned Israeli border communities into ghost towns.

But the emerging tit-for-tat places Israel in a quandary. Israeli officials hope the truce lasts so they can refocus their efforts on the war in the Gaza Strip and their regional archenemy, Iran. But they fear Hezbollah will exploit the cease-fire to slowly rebuild its forces near the border with Israel in contravention of the agreement.

On Monday, Israeli politicians urged a forceful response to the Hezbollah attack, calling it a critical moment for Israel to establish deterrence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident “a severe violation” of the truce even as he suggested that Israel was not abandoning the cease-fire.

“We are determined to continue enforcing the cease-fire terms, and respond to any violation by Hezbollah — both minor and major,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Under the cease-fire, Israel is meant to cease all “offensive military operations against Lebanese targets” and gradually withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon over the next 60 days. Hezbollah is to retreat north, away from Israel’s borders, allowing the Lebanese military to deploy there.

Israel’s leaders say they will “enforce” the terms of the deal militarily to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding itself near the border. Tolerating even small infractions, they argue, could embolden the Lebanese armed group.

“We will respond decisively to Hezbollah’s severe violation of the cease-fire, and will continue to do so. We have plans and targets ready to be carried out and at any given moment,” Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military chief of staff, said in a statement Monday.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2024 The New York Times Company