IDF: Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli troops

Hezbollah overnight Friday launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli soldiers stationed in Southern Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire, the Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday.

In response, the IDF struck dozens of Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites and terrorists in Southern Lebanon, the military stated.

Among the targets were rocket launch positions, weapons storage facilities and Hezbollah command centers.

“The IDF will not tolerate attacks against Israeli civilians or IDF soldiers and will respond with determination to any act of aggression directed against them,” the army continued.

The Israeli military remains committed to the truce according to the directives of the political echelon and will continue to operate to remove any threat posed to the State of Israel and IDF soldiers, the IDF said.

IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin released a recorded message in which he mentioned the killing of four Israeli soldiers “while protecting their country” overnight Thursday, which led to the escalation in violence.

“Over the course of weeks, and including last night, Hezbollah has launched hundreds of explosive drones and rockets at Israeli civilians and soldiers. ... They prove that Hezbollah’s goals remain the same: to remain on Israel’s borders and to plan and carry out attacks on our civilians,” Defrin said.

“This is not a reality we can accept, and this is exactly why the IDF continues to operate in Southern Lebanon. ... IDF soldiers must stand between Hezbollah and Israeli civilians. We will not wait for the next attack to reach our homes. We will continue to remove immediate threats, respond to Hezbollah’s violations, and do whatever is necessary to protect our civilians. Our mission remains the same: to ensure that Hezbollah cannot rebuild itself and pose a threat to our civilians,” the spokesperson added.

In a separate statement on Friday, the IDF said that it struck more than 80 command centers, terrorists, launch positions and additional terrorist infrastructure sites in the area of Nabatieh and additional areas in Southern Lebanon, “within the Security Zone and beyond it.”

During these strikes, dozens of Hezbollah operatives were killed, the military said.

The strikes were carried out in response to the killing of four IDF soldiers the previous night by an explosive drone launched by the Iranian proxy group.

In a separate incident on Friday night, the IDF identified rocket fire launched by Hezbollah. Following the identification, the IDF eliminated two terrorists who fled the launch area on a motorcycle.

The IDF subsequently struck and dismantled the launcher from which the rockets were fired toward the soldiers, the military said.

‘Hezbollah broke the ceasefire’

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter on Saturday lambasted the Shi’ite terrorist organization, stating that it is the one that broke the ceasefire, not Israel.

“Terrorists lie. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Hezbollah lies. Iran is using its proxy to extract concessions. That is the modus operandi of the murderous regime in Tehran. Don’t be fooled,” the diplomat tweeted.

He emphasized that Israel has no territorial ambition in Lebanon and that it seeks to live side by side with its neighbors “behind secure and recognized borders.

“Israel is honoring the ceasefire while defending itself against terrorist attacks, as any self-respecting country would,” Leiter said.

In a subsequent tweet, Leiter listed 13 villages in Southern Lebanon from which Hezbollah fired a total of 147 rockets, 20 UAVs and nine anti-tank missiles at Israeli soldiers deployed there and at Israel in the span of 24 hours.

“Hezbollah is Iran’s long arm and they don’t want a ceasefire,” he said.

Iran reimposes closure on choke point

Israel has agreed to implement a ceasefire in Lebanon in the wake of the Memorandum of Understanding signed last week between the U.S. and Iran.

Discussions between the latter two parties were scheduled to take place in Switzerland on Friday, but were postponed after the flare-up in Lebanon.

The top command center of the Iran Armed Forces announced on Saturday that it is again shutting maritime transit in the Strait of Hormuz, citing hostilities in Lebanon as the driver of the measure, according to Reuters.