Israeli drone kills Hezbollah operative, reports of more strikes in southern Lebanon
IDF says motorcyclist was posing threat to Israeli troops, violating ceasefire, as shaky truce still holds; Lebanese media say five dead, five wounded in separate Israeli airstrike
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces said it killed a Hezbollah operative in a drone strike in southern Lebanon on Saturday, while Lebanon said a separate Israeli strike killed five people.
According to the military, the operative, who was killed while riding a motorcycle in the village of Deir Siryan, “posed a threat to IDF troops deployed to the area, in violation of the agreement between Israel and Lebanon.”
The military published video of the strike.
In the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif, the Lebanese health ministry reported five dead and five wounded in an Israeli airstrike.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF.
Despite reaching a ceasefire ending over a year of fighting with Hezbollah, Israel has vowed to continue carrying out strikes to prevent the ceasefire from being violated, in its words, by Hezbollah attempting to regroup near the Israeli border or rearm.
“The IDF continues to be committed to the understandings regarding the ceasefire in Lebanon,” the military said, adding that troops are still deployed to southern Lebanon “and will work to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Meanwhile, troops of the 146th Division located several rocket launchers aimed at Israel, during operations in the western sector of southern Lebanon, the military said.
During scans, the troops found and destroyed launchers, mortars, dozens of rockets, ammunition crates and assault rifles, according to the military.
במהלך היממה האחרונה, צה״ל פעל במרחב דרום לבנון, מול מספר פעולות שהיוו איום על מדינת ישראל.
מוקדם יותר היום, כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף מחבל חיזבאללה שזוהה במרחב דרום לבנון, והיווה איום על כוחות צה״ל הפרוסים במרחב, תוך הפרה של ההסכם בין ישראל ללבנון>> pic.twitter.com/fzlfPrea9W
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 7, 2024
A ceasefire that came into effect last month stipulates that the IDF has 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where troops have been operating since October to drive Hezbollah from the border region, and cede responsibility for the area to the Lebanese army.
An American-led committee is to adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations.
Hezbollah forces would leave southern Lebanon, and the terror group’s military infrastructure in the south would be dismantled, according to the agreement.
The US has also reportedly provided a side letter specifying Israel’s rights to respond to any violations of the deal. The letter is said to include guarantees from Washington that allow Israel reconnaissance flights over Lebanon as long as they do not break the sound barrier.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel one day after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel, in support of its fellow Iran-backed terror group, drawing Israeli reprisals and leading to the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Fighting intensified in late September, with Israel killing much of Hezbollah’s leadership and launching a limited ground incursion on October 1 that has seen soldiers search villages for rockets and other arms held by the terror group, and tackle its terror tunnels and other infrastructure.
