The Israeli Air Force conducted precision strikes inside Lebanon overnight Friday targeting two sites containing Hezbollah weapons in violation of the truce agreement.
“The IDF continues to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel and will prevent any attempt by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to rebuild its forces, in accordance with the ceasefire understandings,” added the military.
On Monday, Israeli forces dismantled Hezbollah infrastructure in Southern Lebanon, as part of the Israel Defense Forces’ ongoing defensive operations there, the military said.
Soldiers from the 769th “Hiram” Territorial Brigade and 7th “Storm from the Golan” Armored Brigade located weapons storage facilities containing what the IDF said were significant stockpiles of military equipment.
Additionally, Israeli forces killed several Hezbollah operatives in the area and detained individuals who posed a threat to their mission.
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday warned Hezbollah to halt its violations of the ceasefire deal or risk destruction.
“I would like to send a clear message to Hezbollah and the Lebanese government,” the minister said in remarks published by his office following a visit to IDF troops in Southern Lebanon earlier in the day.
“Israel will not tolerate drone attacks from Lebanon,” Katz declared. “Either there will be no drones, or there will be no Hezbollah.
On Jan. 30, Hezbollah dispatched a surveillance drone, marking the first time since the ceasefire went into effect on Nov. 27 that the terrorist group sent an unmanned aerial vehicle into Israeli airspace.
In response, IAF jets struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, including an underground weapons site.
Last month, the White House confirmed that the U.S.-monitored truce deal between Lebanon and Israel would be extended until Feb. 18.
Days earlier, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem stated that the IDF’s “withdrawal process is conditional on the Lebanese Army deploying in Southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani [River].”
“Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the State of Lebanon, the phased withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States,” the Israeli government said.
Israel “will not endanger its communities and citizens and will insist on the full implementation of the objective of the fighting in the north, which is the safe return of residents to their homes,” it added.
Meanwhile, Morgan Ortagus, the U.S. deputy special envoy for the Middle East, told Lebanese officials on Thursday that Washington will not accept Hezbollah’s influence over the formation of a new government.
Ortagus met in Beirut with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
She warned that Lebanon risks deep isolation and economic catastrophe unless it forms a government committed to reforms and curbing the stranglehold of the Iranian-backed Shi’ite group, Reuters reported.
“It’s important for us to set the tone for what we believe a new Lebanon should look like going forward,” the report cited a senior U.S. administration official as saying.
“There was a war and Hezbollah was defeated, and they need to remain defeated,” the official added. “You don’t want somebody corrupt. It’s a new day for Lebanon. Hezbollah was defeated, and the new government needs to match that new reality.”
