Israel warns of intensifying attacks against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
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The warning came a day after the Lebanese Health Ministry reported four people killed in an Israeli air strike.
PHOTO: EPA
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JERUSALEM – Israel warned on Nov 2 that its military would step up its attacks against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, a day after the Lebanese Health Ministry reported four people killed in an Israeli air strike.
Despite a November 2024 ceasefire
“Hezbollah is playing with fire, and the President of Lebanon is dragging his feet,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“The Lebanese government’s commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from southern Lebanon must be implemented. Maximum enforcement will continue and even intensify – we will not allow any threat to the residents of the north.”
Thousands of Israelis living near the northern border with Lebanon were forced to evacuate their homes for months after Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel following the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
That set off a more than year-long conflict that culminated in two months of open war before the ceasefire in 2024 was agreed upon.
The Iran-backed militant group, which opposes Israel, has been badly weakened by the war but remains armed and financially resilient.
Israel killed the group’s long-time chief, Hassan Nasrallah
Since the ceasefire, the US has increased pressure on the Lebanese authorities to disarm the group, a plan opposed by Hezbollah and its allies.
Latest strike
Israel has continued carrying out air strikes on Lebanon despite the truce – usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah positions – and has stepped up the attacks in recent days.
On Oct 30, Israeli ground troops carried out a deadly raid into southern Lebanon, prompting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to order the army to confront such incursions.
Mr Aoun had called for talks with Israel in mid-October after US President Donald Trump helped broker a ceasefire in Gaza.
But Mr Aoun later accused Israel of responding to his offer by intensifying its air strikes, the latest of which killed four people in Nabatiyeh district on Nov 1, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The official Lebanese National News Agency reported that the Israeli army hit a car “with a guided missile”.
The Israeli military confirmed the strike, saying it killed a member of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force in southern Lebanon.
“The terrorist was involved in transferring weapons and in efforts to re-establish Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon,” the military said, adding that three other members of the group were also killed.
“The terrorists’ activities constituted a threat to the State of Israel and its civilians, and a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.” AFP
