Israel is signaling firm resolve with regard to enforcing the ceasefire arrangement with Lebanon and preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its terrorist army in the south of the country, while preparing to withdraw from Southern Lebanon on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Recent Israel Defense Forces operations in response to Hezbollah truce violations reflect a new reality in which Jerusalem will no longer passively stand by and watch Hezbollah rebuild its offensive capabilities.
Yoni Tobin, a senior policy analyst at the Washington D.C.-based Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told JNS on Feb. 14 that “despite the predictable unfounded criticism, Israel has demonstrated both the willingness and ability to enforce the ceasefire in response to Hezbollah’s flagrant violations.”
Recent Israeli strikes against Hezbollah threats across Lebanon, he said, “including in not only the south but also the eastern Beqaa Valley, show Israel’s resolve to end its adversaries’ habitual practice of using ceasefires to rearm, regroup, and again threaten the lives of Israeli citizens.”
Tobin further noted that “American backing for Israel’s freedom of action and the U.S. leadership role in the ceasefire oversight mechanism, including spurring the long-apathetic LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces] into action, have been indispensable ingredients of the ceasefire’s overall success.”
As the IDF moves toward its scheduled withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, questions remain about how Israel will enforce the arrangement after the IDF redeploys. It appears highly likely that cross-border ground raids and airstrikes will continue in response to intelligence of violations, and that the precedent for this is already being set.
Moreover, according to international media reports on Feb. 14, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that he had been notified by the United States that Israel would withdraw on Feb. 18, but would remain at five positions in southern Lebanon close to the Israeli border. This aligns with a Feb. 12 report by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster according to which “the IDF is building five new outposts in Lebanon from which it does not intend to withdraw.”
There has been no confirmation from Israeli authorities at this stage regarding Israel’s intentions regarding these five positions.
According to senior JINSA policy analyst Tobin, “Israel maintains both the capacity and the right, made explicit in the ceasefire deal’s provisions, to prevent Hezbollah from again posing a threat to the Israeli homeland.” He argued that “regardless of how it does so, whether exclusively through airstrikes or by retaining a limited number of strategic outposts across the Blue Line as has been reported, Israel will need to keep acting decisively against Hezbollah to ensure Israel’s northern residents can safely and permanently return home.”
In addition, he said, “Continuous U.S. support for Israel’s freedom of action, direct U.S. supervision of the ceasefire’s enforcement and U.S. pressure on the LAF to push the momentum against Hezbollah across Lebanon will be crucial elements of a successful and lasting arrangement.”
Meanwhile, it seems that hardly a day goes by without IDF action to enforce the truce, thwarting not only Hezbollah but also Iran.
On Feb. 12 IDF Arabic-language Spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee stated that “the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah have been exploiting civilian flights arriving at Beirut Airport in recent weeks to transfer money intended to rearm Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
This message was a clear warning to Lebanese authorities; It appears as though the truce monitoring mechanism led by U.S. military officer Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers and comprising Lebanese, United Nations and French representatives, was unable to act to stop the terror financing flights from Iran.
The next day, the Lebanese army fired shots to remove Hezbollah protesters from the airports’ vicinity, after the Lebanese government banned an Iranian flight landing in Beirut. According to AFP, on Feb. 14, Lebanon prevented a second Iranian flight from landing for fear of Israel’s reaction.
“Through the Americans, Israel informed the Lebanese state that it would target the airport if the Iranian plane landed in Lebanon,” the AFP reported.
These developments have led to clashes between the LAF and pro-Hezbollah Shi’ite activists, as well as attacks on UNIFIL vehicles and commanders.
The deputy commander of UNIFIL was injured on Feb. 14 after his convoy to Beirut Airport was set upon by pro-Hezbollah activists.