IDF spokesman warns any Hezbollah violation of ceasefire ‘will be answered with fire’

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press conference says any Hezbollah violation of the ceasefire agreement “will be answered with fire.”

“The IDF’s mission is to enforce the agreement. The IDF is determined, and any violation will be answered with fire,” he says.

Hagari says IDF troops are still positioned in southern Lebanon “in the villages and areas from which there will be a gradual withdrawal, in accordance with the agreement.”

“Air Force planes continue to fly over Lebanon’s skies, collecting intelligence and are prepared to operate wherever necessary,” he continues.

Hagari says that in the coming weeks, the IDF will “shape” its defenses on the northern border, and “implement lessons from the past.”

Today, he says IDF troops worked to enforce the agreement. The soldiers “identified suspects who approached no-go zones, detained them, and fired warning shots. We also killed terrorists today,” Hagari says.

Hagari also shows a map of areas in southern Lebanon that are currently off-limits for Lebanese civilians amid the gradual handover to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

“We are stationed and operating in this area. Armed operatives in the area marked on the map is a violation [of the ceasefire], and any armed operative will be eliminated or detained,” he says.

Addressing Lebanese civilians, Hagari says: “As you saw throughout the war, we are doing what we say. For your safety, we call on you not to approach the area where our forces are. The ceasefire agreement is built in a gradual way, and we will update when you can return.”

He says that during the entire conflict, over 12,500 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon were struck, including 360 in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“Hezbollah is a strategic Iranian asset, which the Iranian leadership invested many resources in, money, weapons and personnel over the years. Iran’s leadership has lost a strategic asset adjacent to our border,” Hagari adds.