IDF strikes Hezbollah rocket depot, launch sites after identifying truce violations
First strikes since start of ceasefire come alongside warning shots toward suspects in south Lebanon; over 2,800 structures in Israel said damaged by Hezbollah since Oct. 2023
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that it had carried out two airstrikes on Hezbollah assets in southern Lebanon, less than two days into a fragile ceasefire with the Iran-backed terror group. It also said troops fired warning shots in a number of cases at suspects who approached border areas that are still off-limits according to the truce.
In the first strike, fighter jets struck a Hezbollah facility used to hold medium-range rockets after identifying activity there, according to the military.
In the second, the IDF said it carried out a strike against two Hezbollah operatives who entered a site in southern Lebanon used to fire dozens of rockets at Israel. The operatives were targeted in a drone strike “to thwart the threat,” the IDF said.
The incident and several others throughout the day violated the ceasefire agreement, the military said.
“The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon, acting and thwarting any violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the military said in a statement.
The IDF also said it fired warning shots in several areas of southern Lebanon throughout the day to disperse Hezbollah operatives attempting to reach no-go zones near the border. In one case, a drone struck near the suspects as a warning measure.
“The arrival of suspects, some with vehicles, to several areas in southern Lebanon was identified, which constitutes a violation [of the ceasefire],” the IDF said in a statement.
In response, the Lebanese army on Thursday accused Israel of violating the ceasefire “several times” since it went into effect. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded in the village of Markaba, close to the border.
Lebanese state media and security sources said Israeli fire had hit six areas within the border strip, striking Markaba, Wazzani and Kfarchouba, Khiyam, Taybe and agricultural plains around Marjayoun, all of which lie within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the Blue Line demarcating the border between Lebanon and Israel.
The strikes on Thursday were the first since the ceasefire came into effect early Wednesday, in an effort to end over a year of cross-border violence initiated by Hezbollah last October. The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and France, includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah terrorists are to withdraw north of the Litani River, about 20 kilometers from the boundary between Israel and Lebanon, and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said on Thursday that Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as the IDF withdraws. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
A Lebanese army source said its forces were “conducting patrols and setting up checkpoints” south of the Litani River without advancing into areas where Israeli forces were still present.
In a statement on X on Thursday, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman announced a nighttime curfew in south Lebanon.
“It is strictly forbidden to move or travel south of the Litani River starting from 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) until 7 a.m. tomorrow (Friday). Those south of the Litani River must remain where they are,” Col. Avichay Adraee said.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah on Thursday accused Israel of attacking people returning to their villages in south Lebanon. The IDF has instructed residents of towns along the border not to return yet, for their own safety.
Tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel have also not yet returned to their homes.
According to an Army Radio report on Thursday citing official figures, nearly 3,000 homes and buildings in Israel were damaged over the last 14 months of war with Hezbollah.
The tally of 2,874 structures includes 841 that will need to be completely rebuilt, according to the report. In Kiryat Shmona alone, 382 buildings suffered damage, while nearby Kibbutz Manara and the Western Galilee towns of Nahariya and Shlomi also took significant hits.
Israeli authorities have previously estimated property damage to stand at a minimum of NIS 1 billion ($273 million).
About 55,000 acres of forestry, nature reserves, parks and open lands in northern Israel and the Golan Heights have been burnt down since the start of the war, according to authorities.
Also Thursday, the IDF said that it had fired an air defense interceptor missile over the Western Galilee due to a “suspicious aerial target” spotted over Lebanon. It later declared that the incident was a false alarm.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday halted 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which began when the terror group, unprovoked, began firing into Israel on October 8, 2023, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The relentless attacks forced the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before Israel ramped up its operations in Lebanon in mid-September. The campaign in Gaza is ongoing, with no end in sight.
Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel since October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 45 civilians. In addition, 76 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes, attacks on Israel, and in the ensuing ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.
The IDF estimates that some 3,500 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict. Around 100 members of other terror groups, along with hundreds of civilians, have also been reported killed in Lebanon.
According to figures published by the Lebanese health ministry, 3,823 people were killed in Israeli actions since October 8, 2023, a figure that does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite the warnings from both the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
