Israel and Hezbollah exchange strikes as ceasefire violations mount

BEIRUT - At least nine people were killed and three injured on Dec 2 from Israeli strikes on two southern Lebanese towns, Talousa and Haris, as the Israeli military said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon.

Earlier on Dec 2, the Lebanese authorities reported two additional deaths in Israeli strikes on other parts of southern Lebanon, including a state security member killed while on duty, bringing the day’s death toll to 11.

The latest Israeli strikes came shortly after Hezbollah accused Israel of violating a ceasefire agreement and fired missiles on an Israeli military position in the disputed Shebaa Farms area, in what the Iran-backed group called a “defensive warning strike”.

Residents in Beirut said they also heard drones flying overhead at low altitudes late in the evening.

The exchange of fire put a

US-brokered ceasefire between the two

in an increasingly fragile position less than a week after it took effect.

The truce prohibits Israel from conducting offensive military operations in Lebanon while requiring Lebanon to prevent armed groups, including Hezbollah, from launching attacks on Israel.

The Israeli military reported no casualties from Hezbollah’s two missile launches, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a “strong” response.

Hezbollah said its rocket fire, the first operation the group had announced since the ceasefire came into effect on Nov 27, was in retaliation for repeated Israeli violations of the truce.

Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker, Mr Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who negotiated the truce on behalf of Lebanon, said Beirut had recorded at least 54 ceasefire violations by Israel since Nov 27.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli forces fired two artillery shells towards the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif in the Bint Jbeil district, while heavy machine-gun fire targeted Yaroun.

No injuries were reported in either incident, NNA said.

Mr Berri urged the committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire to “urgently” ensure Israel halts its breaches.

“We are engaging through a mechanism with France, Israel and Lebanon to investigate and address reports of violations,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, adding that early ceasefire periods are often fragile but had broadly succeeded in reducing violence.

Lebanon and Israel have traded accusations of breaches. On Dec 2, Lebanon said the violations had turned deadly.

One person was killed in an Israeli air attack on the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, about 10km from Israel’s northern border, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Lebanon’s state security said an Israeli drone strike killed a member of its force while he was on duty in Nabatieh, 12km from the border.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the incidents in Marjayoun and Nabatieh.

However, it said that it had targeted military vehicles near Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and near the Syrian border.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denied wrongdoing, accusing Hezbollah of moving weapons south of the Litani River in defiance of the agreement. “Israel is committed to the successful implementation of the ceasefire, but we will not accept a return to the situation as it stood on Oct 6, 2023,” he said in a statement.

Public broadcaster Kan reported that US envoy Amos Hochstein, who brokered the truce, warned Israel over alleged violations.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a “powerful blow” against Hezbollah, saying the group had made a “big mistake” by targeting Israeli territory. REUTERS