Several people had been arrested in connection with the launching of rockets into Israel last week, the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces said on Saturday.
The suspects are being questioned, Gen. Rodolph Haykal, who took up his post on March 13, told the state-run National News Agency (NNA). He did not name them.
Haykal said that rocket attacks from Lebanese territory serve “the enemy,” meaning Israel, and reaffirmed the army’s commitment to safeguarding Lebanon and its people. According to the Xinhua news agency, Haykal said this during a tour of the South Litani Sector Command and military positions along the border.
“The army is making significant efforts to fulfill its missions in the south, a fact acknowledged by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the five-member committee overseeing the ceasefire,” he said.
He also accused Israel of hindering the army’s full deployment in the south, pointing to its deployment in Lebanese territory and attacks.
On Friday, the Israeli Air Force attacked targets in Southern Lebanon and a building in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahieh in response to two rockets fired toward the Galilee, neither of which reached Israeli territory. Lebanese officials reported that the Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded 21.
The airstrike on Dahieh, a densely populated Hezbollah stronghold, was Israel’s first in the area since November. Hezbollah denied that the Islamist group was connected to the rocket fire on Friday, or to a previous launch of rocket fire on Metula in Israel the previous week.
A truce brokered by the U.S. and France between Lebanon and Israel has been in place since Nov. 27, 2024, ending more than a year of cross-border hostilities linked to the Gaza war. Hezbollah has agreed under the ceasefire to move out of the area south of the Litani River, and Lebanon said its army would deploy there. Neither action has taken place in full.
Israel has said it holds Hezbollah and Lebanon accountable for attacks against it, and that it will retaliate harshly for violations.
“Lebanon is responsible for what is being launched from its territory, and it must ensure that no attacks are carried out against Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Friday.
