Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel would respond "strongly" after the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, citing repeated Israeli ceasefire violations, carried out a strike on an Israeli military position.
Hezbollah fired into a disputed border zone held by Israel on Monday, the group's first attack since its ceasefire with Israel took hold last week, after Lebanon accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days.
The Israeli military said two projectiles were launched toward Mount Dov, a disputed Israeli-held territory known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel meet. Israel said the projectiles fell in open areas and no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired on an Israeli military position in the area as a “defensive and warning response” after what it called “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal by Israel. It said complaints to mediators tasked with monitoring the ceasefire “were futile in stopping these violations.”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Hezbollah made a "serious mistake" firing into Israel and the latter must respond with a "powerful blow".
The US- and French-brokered ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday calling for a 60-day halt in fighting, aiming to end more than a year of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel.
Since then, Israel has carried out a number of strikes in Lebanon, most recently on Monday, when a drone strike killed a man on a motorcycle in southern Lebanon and another hit a Lebanese army bulldozer in the northeastern town of Hermel, wounding a soldier. The Lebanese army had stayed on the sidelines of the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel says the strikes are in response to Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire, without giving specifics.
During the 60-day period, both Israel and Hezbollah are to withdraw from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah is supposed to pull back to north of the Litani River, which is about 30 kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border. The site of Monday’s drone strike on the Lebanese army bulldozer was far north of the Litani.
On Saturday, two people were killed in an airstrike on Marjayoun province, Lebanon’s state media said.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, accused Israel on Monday of committing 54 breaches of the ceasefire, including the alleged demolition of homes in border villages, the persistent overflight of Israeli reconnaissance drones, and airstrikes that have caused casualties.
Speaking to the Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria, Berri called for urgent intervention to halt what he called “flagrant violations.”
The United States and France are tasked with monitoring compliance with the accord. Israel says that it reserves the right under the deal to respond to perceived ceasefire violations.
