The Israeli Air Force on Thursday attacked a vehicle in Southern Lebanon suspected of carrying weapons in violation of the ceasefire, the military said.
“Earlier today, a number of suspects who loaded weapons on a vehicle in Southern Lebanon from military facilities that belonged to the Hezbollah terrorist organization were detected,” the IDF spokesperson said in a statement.
“Aircraft of the [Israeli] Air Force opened fire at the weapons on the vehicle to remove the threat.
“The IDF continues to be committed to the understandings regarding the ceasefire in Lebanon, is deployed in Southern Lebanon, and will act to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement concluded.
On Tuesday, U.S. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers and French Brig. Gen. Guillaume Ponchin viewed confiscated Hezbollah weapons during a visit to the Lebanese Armed Forces’ 5th Brigade headquarters in southwestern Lebanon.
According to statements from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, the weapons stockpiles, which they referred to as belonging to “unauthorized armed groups,” will be destroyed in the coming days.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein told reporters on Monday during a visit to Beirut that Israeli forces began withdrawing from the south Lebanon border town of Naqura.
“The Israeli military started its withdrawal from Naqura … and back into Israel proper today, south of the Blue Line,” Hochstein said, according to AFP, referring to the U.N.-demarcated border between Lebanon and Israel.
“These withdrawals will continue until all Israeli forces are out of Lebanon completely, and as the Lebanese army continues to deploy into the south and all the way to the Blue Line,” he said.
Since March 23, 1978, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has based its headquarters in Naqura.
The Israeli withdrawal takes place midway into a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The ceasefire was signed on Nov. 26 and took effect the following day, ending nearly 14 months of hostilities.
