Lebanese media claims IDF handed over 7 people to UNIFIL observers at border
No comment from military; Lebanon reports series of strikes, in what Israeli army says targeted compound with 8 weapons storage facilities
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese official media said the Israeli army handed over seven people to United Nations observers at the border on Sunday, amid a delicate ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group.
“The Israeli enemy handed over seven freed citizens, who were detained by the enemy after the ceasefire,” the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Israel stepped up its campaign in southern Lebanon in late September after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges that Hezbollah initiated, unprovoked, claiming it was in support of Hamas following the Palestinian terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.
The NNA said the seven were handed over to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at Ras Naqura on the border, then transported to a hospital for check-ups by the Lebanese Red Cross, accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
They were subsequently transferred by “military intelligence” to a headquarters in the southern city of Sidon for investigation, the NNA said.
A UNIFIL spokesperson said that the Israeli army had released seven civilians at the force’s Ras Naqura position, in coordination with the Lebanese Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A November 27 ceasefire put an end to more than a year of hostilities, including two months of all-out war between the Israel Defense Forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Under the terms of the truce, the Lebanese army is to deploy in south Lebanon alongside UN observers as the Israeli army withdraws over a period of 60 days.
Hezbollah is required to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in the south.
Israeli troops have 60 days to redeploy south of the Blue Line. Until then, some soldiers have remained inside Lebanon where they have continued to hunt down and demobilize Hezbollah arms and infrastructure.
The NNA reported Sunday that the Israeli army “carried out major bombing operations in the town of Kfar Kila,” and also said the military “blew up a number of houses” in the Bint Jbeil district, decrying “repeated attacks on occupied southern villages.”
The IDF said in a statement on Sunday that soldiers “located and destroyed a combat compound containing eight weapon storage facilities” in south Lebanon, “acting in accordance with the ceasefire and understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Hezbollah started firing barrages of rockets and drones at Israel from Lebanon on October 8, 2023. Their attack came one day after fellow Iranian-backed terror group Hamas, in Gaza, invaded Israel from the south, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, starting the ongoing multi-front war. Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all avowedly seek to destroy Israel.
After more than a year of fighting, Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire agreement last month. The pact has broadly held, despite some alleged violations by the terror group and respondent Israeli airstrikes.
