Israel has launched dozens of strikes in Lebanon since a ceasefire was supposed to go into effect last week, and on Monday, Hezbollah fired back for the first time, launching two rockets toward Israeli-occupied territory as a “warning” shot, causing no casualties.
Now, Israeli officials are vowing a major response, signaling Israel will use Hezbollah’s response to repeated Israeli ceasefire violations as a reason to escalate.
“Hezbollah’s firing at Mount Dov constitutes a serious violation of the ceasefire, and Israel will respond forcefully,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “We are determined to continue enforcing the ceasefire, and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah — a minor one will be treated like a major one.”
A source with the UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, told CNN that Israel has violated the ceasefire agreement “approximately 100” times since it went into effect last Wednesday. The Lebanese government said Israel had violated it over 50 times.
The Israeli violations have involved gunfire, artillery shelling, and airstrikes. According to Al Jazeera, Israel launched dozens of strikes that killed at least two people. Hezbollah said that the rockets it fired on Monday were “defensive” warning shots in response to Israel killing and wounding civilians.
Israeli officials have claimed that Hezbollah’s presence and activity in southern Lebanon is a ceasefire violation, but the agreement gives Hezbollah 60 days to move its fighters and heavy weapons north of the Litani River. During that time, Israel is also supposed to withdraw from towns in southern Lebanon.
According to CNN, both the UN and France have warned Israel that they believe the Israeli military has violated the ceasefire agreement. Axios reported that the US has told Israel the ceasefire deal may unravel.
The US shares some of the blame for the Israeli violations since it provided Israel with a letter to assure the Israeli military could launch unilateral strikes on Lebanon if it deemed the ceasefire was being violated. The assurances from the US, Israel’s biggest backer, were given separately from the actual agreement signed between Israel and Lebanon.
