Lebanon Parliament Speaker Accuses Israel of 'Flagrant Violation' of Truce

Border fence between Lebanon and Israel (AFP)
Border fence between Lebanon and Israel (AFP)
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Lebanon Parliament Speaker Accuses Israel of 'Flagrant Violation' of Truce

Border fence between Lebanon and Israel (AFP)
Border fence between Lebanon and Israel (AFP)

Lebanon's parliament speaker accused Israel of violating a ceasefire, after authorities said two were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, the sixth day of the truce.

"The aggressive actions carried out by Israeli occupation forces... represent a flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement," Nabih Berri, who helped mediate the ceasefire on behalf of ally Hezbollah, said in a statement.

Also, France's foreign minister Monday told his Israeli counterpart that all sides should respect a ceasefire started last week between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, the French foreign ministry said.

Jean-Noel Barrot stressed to Israeli minister Gideon Saar in a phone call "the need for all sides to respect the ceasefire in Lebanon", the ministry said, after several Israeli strikes hit Lebanon since the ceasefire started Wednesday.

At least two people were killed on Monday in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, Lebanese authorities said, as a ceasefire ending more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah appeared increasingly fragile.

The truce, which came into effect early on Nov. 27, stipulates that Israel will not carry out offensive military operations against civilian, military or other state targets in Lebanon, while Lebanon will prevent any armed groups, including Hezbollah, from carrying out operations against Israel.

Lebanon and Israel have already traded accusations of breaches, and on Monday Lebanon said the violations had turned deadly.

One person was killed in an Israeli air attack on the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, about 10 km (six miles) from the border with Israel, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Lebanon's state security said an Israeli drone strike had killed a member of its force while he was on duty in Nabatieh, 12 km from the border. State security called it a "flagrant violation" of the truce.

The Lebanese army said an Israeli drone hit an army bulldozer in northeast Lebanon near the border with Syria, wounding one soldier.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the incidents in Marjayoun and Nabatieh. It issued a statement saying it had attacked military vehicles operating near Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and military vehicles near the border with Syria.

The Israeli military acknowledged that a Lebanese soldier was wounded in one of its attacks and said the incident was under review.



Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu between Trump and Far-right Allies

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
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Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu between Trump and Far-right Allies

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)

Even before it was signed, the Gaza ceasefire forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a tight spot - between a new US president promising peace and far-right allies who want war to resume. That tension is only likely to increase.
The stakes for Netanyahu are high -- keeping his coalition government on the one hand and on the other, satisfying US President Donald Trump who wants to use the ceasefire momentum to expand Israel's diplomatic ties in the Middle East.
One of Netanyahu's nationalist allies has already quit over the Gaza ceasefire, and another is threatening to follow unless war on Hamas is resumed at an even greater force than that which devastated much of Gaza for 15 months.
The clock is ticking. The first stage of the ceasefire is meant to last six weeks. By day 16 -- Feb. 4 -- Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas are due to start negotiating the second phase of the ceasefire, whose stated aim is to end the war.
Former police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party quit the government on Sunday and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that he will stay in government only if war resumes after the first phase until the total defeat of Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
"We must go back in a completely different style. We need to conquer Gaza, instate a military rule there, even if temporarily, to start encouraging (Palestinian) emigration, to start taking territory from our enemies and to win," Smotrich said in an interview with Channel 14 on Sunday.
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, however, said on Wednesday he was focused on ensuring the deal moves from the first to second phase, which is expected to include a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
"Netanyahu is pressed between the far-right and Donald Trump," said political analyst Amotz Asa-El, with the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. "Netanyahu's coalition now is fragile and the likelihood that it will fall apart sometime in the course of 2025 is high."
Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Witkoff told Fox News on Wednesday that he will be on the ground overseeing the ceasefire, a signal that he will keep up the pressure he applied during the deal's negotiations.
According to six US, Israeli, Egyptian and other Mideast officials who spoke to Reuters in the run-up to the ceasefire announcement on Jan. 15, Witkoff played a crucial role in getting the deal over the line.
The ceasefire's first phase includes the release of hostages, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces and aid flow into Gaza.
The second phase, if it happens, would include the release of remaining hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. A third phase is expected to start Gaza's reconstruction, overseen by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
One of the most difficult issues involved in negotiating the next phases is post-war Gaza's governance. Israel won't accept Hamas staying in power. Hamas so far has not given ground.
Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday, that Hamas will never govern Gaza and if it reneges on the deal, Washington will support Israel "in doing what it has to do."
On Saturday, after his government signed off on the ceasefire, Netanyahu said Israel had US backing to resume fighting if the second stage talks prove futile, leaving himself some political leeway with Smotrich, for now.
"If we need to go back to the fighting, we will do so in new ways and with great force," Netanyahu said in a video statement.