The Israeli army carried out a number of operations in southern Lebanon on Thursday, a day after a ceasefire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia took effect.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a plane attacked an arms depot of the Iran-backed group after “terrorist activity was identified at a facility used by Hezbollah to store medium-range missiles.”
According to Israeli media reports, it was the first Israeli airstrike on Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect early on Wednesday.
The ceasefire agreement stipulates that Hezbollah must withdraw behind the Litani River, about 30 kilometers north of the border with Israel, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
The resolution marked the end of Lebanon’s last war in 2006, but was never fully implemented.
Israel’s ground forces will gradually withdraw from Lebanon over the next 60 days, but the IDF says it is still taking action against Hezbollah members who violate the agreement.
Earlier, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that at least two people were injured when the Israeli army fired on villages near the border in southeastern Lebanon.
The news agency said the injuries occurred in the village of Markaba, while tanks also reportedly fired at the villages of Wasani and Kfar Shuba.
In a statement, the IDF said several suspected Hezbollah fighters had arrived in vehicles in different parts of southern Lebanon, violating the terms of the ceasefire.
“The IDF opened fire on them,” it said, adding that it would punish any violation of the agreement.
It also announced a new curfew in southern Lebanon, with a spokesperson saying that entry into border areas south of the Litani River will be banned between 5pm Thursday (3pm GMT) and 7am Friday.
“For your safety, you must follow these instructions,” the spokesperson said in a post on X. The military announced a similar curfew on Wednesday evening.
Iran calls the ceasefire a ‘humiliating defeat’ for Israel
The 60-day ceasefire aims to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that began more than a year ago in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attacks.
The agreement was welcomed around the world, especially in Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands were displaced and thousands died in the fighting following Israel’s ground invasion in late September.
In addition to setbacks in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah lost a number of top commanders in targeted Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.
However, in a letter on Thursday to Nasrallah’s successor Naim Qassem, the leader of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said the ceasefire was a “victory for Hezbollah” and a “strategic and humiliating defeat” for Israel.
