Israel carried out a drone strike against Qaaqaaiyet al-Jisr, Lebanon, on Wednesday, hitting a vehicle and killing one person within. As is so often the case of late, the IDF declared the slain person to be a Hezbollah commander, who was in charge of Hezbollah forces in Qabrikha.
The strike was reportedly on Wednesday morning, and while Lebanese media confirmed one person was killed in the strike, they did not confirm that he was actually a Hezbollah member. It’s not unusual for Israel to posthumously promote people they kill in drones strikes to Hezbollah membership or even leadership, and while they do kill some such figures a large number of people are later found to be civilians not even tangentially tied to Hezbollah.
Israel carries out strikes against southern Lebanon on a near-daily basis, but it is noteworthy that increasingly more and more of the strikes are hitting less southern Lebanon, north of the Litani River. Today’s strike was north of the river by about a mile. The ceasefire only forbids Hezbollah forces from operating south of the Litani, so even if it was a Hezbollah commander, his presence here would not be a violation.
Last week’s bunker-buster bomb strikes against Nabatieh were similarly north of the Litani, and Israel also alleged it was “Hezbollah infrastructure,” though locals disputed this and said it was just a populated area.
Strikes south of the Litani continue too, however, with yesterday’s strike targeting Houla, nearer to the border. The strike killed one person on a motorcycle, and once again, Israel’s official statements presented him as a Hezbollah operative.
Israel also claimed the Houla strike amounted to a Hezbollah violation of the ceasefire, because the very presence of that person on that motorcycle south of the river was not allowed.
The ceasefire does forbid Israeli airstrikes against Lebanon, and is a big part of why several thousand Israeli ceasefire violations have been documented since it began in November. Israel has claimed the US gave it the green light to continue operating within Lebanon. The US is meant to be one of the primary guarantors of the ceasefire.
