{"id":10929,"date":"2024-12-04T15:02:36","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T15:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/04\/israel-threatens-to-go-deeper-into-lebanon-as-strikes-strain-ceasefire\/"},"modified":"2024-12-04T15:02:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T15:02:36","slug":"israel-threatens-to-go-deeper-into-lebanon-as-strikes-strain-ceasefire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/04\/israel-threatens-to-go-deeper-into-lebanon-as-strikes-strain-ceasefire\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel threatens to \u2018go deeper\u2019 into Lebanon as strikes strain ceasefire"},"content":{"rendered":"

As tit-for-tat strikes strain a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah less than a week since it went into effect, Israel\u2019s defense minister on Tuesday threatened to directly target <\/strong>the Lebanese state <\/strong>should the agreement fall apart. <\/p>\n

Monday was the deadliest day since that agreement came into force last <\/strong>Wednesday, with Israeli strikes killing nine in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah fired at Israeli-occupied territory, citing Israeli truce violations. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we return to war, we will act with strength, go deeper,\u201d Israel Katz said during a visit on Tuesday to the 146th Division of the Israel Defense Forces, near the Lebanese border. <\/p>\n

Were the ceasefire to collapse, he said, \u201cthere will no longer be any exemptions for the State of Lebanon. If until now we separated the State of Lebanon from Hezbollah \u2013 and the entirety of Beirut from Dahiyeh, which took very hard hits \u2013 this will no longer be the case.\u201d <\/p>\n

It comes a day after Israel conducted airstrikes <\/strong>across southern Lebanon, retaliating to Hezbollah\u2019s firing of two rockets at Israeli-occupied territory \u2013 themselves a response to near-daily Israeli attacks on Lebanon beginning the day after the truce came into effect last Wednesday. <\/p>\n

The exchange of fire casts doubt on the longevity of the ceasefire brokered by the United States \u2013 though State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller insisted on Monday that \u201cwe have not seen the ceasefire break down.\u201d <\/p>\n

Both the American and French governments have privately told Israel that they believe it is violating the agreement, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a position in the defense ministry, said in an interview with Israel\u2019s Kan radio. The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Israel had breached the ceasefire agreement \u201capproximately 100\u201d times since the truce went into effect. <\/p>\n

\u201cBoth the French and the Americans didn\u2019t really like it,\u201d Smotrich said, referring to Israeli strikes on Lebanon since the truce. \u201cBut the IDF, in the days since the ceasefire, is enforcing it in a very determined way, both against Hezbollah and against civilians who are trying to return to villages in the border area without permission.\u201d <\/p>\n

Except for Tuesday, Israel has launched daily airstrikes in Lebanon since the day after a ceasefire went into effect last week. The military has said that it acted \u201cin response to several acts by Hezbollah in Lebanon that posed a threat to Israeli civilians, in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Those strikes led Hezbollah to target Israeli-occupied territory, at Shebaa Farms, on Monday. In a statement, the group said that Israel was guilty of \u201cfiring on civilians and airstrikes in different parts of Lebanon, resulting in the martyrdom of citizens and injuries to others, in addition to the continued violation of Lebanese airspace by hostile Israeli aircraft reaching the capital, Beirut.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hezbollah\u2019s rockets <\/strong>fell in an open area and injured no one. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it \u201ca serious violation of the ceasefire,\u201d and Israel launched airstrikes across southern Lebanon, killing nine, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Smotrich said the IDF had struck 29 targets in Monday\u2019s attack. <\/p>\n

Israeli officials contend that far from violating the ceasefire, they are acting to enforce it. <\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday was the first test \u2013 firing toward Mount Dov as if it were outside the usual conflict or open to interpretation,\u201d Katz said on Tuesday, using the Israeli term for Shebaa Farms, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and has occupied ever since. \u201cFor us, it is not open to any interpretation. We responded with strength, and we will continue to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n

The ceasefire deal stipulates a 60-day cessation of hostilities, which negotiators have described as the foundation of a lasting truce. During that time, Hezbollah fighters are expected to retreat some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Israel-Lebanon\u202fborder, while Israeli ground forces withdraw from Lebanese territory. Under the agreement,\u202f Lebanon\u202fwould implement a more rigorous supervision of Hezbollah\u2019s movements south of the country\u2019s Litani River, to prevent militants from regrouping there. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will act with full force to enforce all the understandings of the ceasefire agreement, and we will respond with maximum response and zero tolerance,\u201d Katz said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

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