As they have many other times since the ceasefire went into effect in November, Israeli troops entered southern Lebanon overnight, in an operation around the village of Mays al-Jabal. They brought bulldozers, and reportedly also constructed a roadblock before they left.
This is just one of several thousand ceasefire violations by Israel since it began. Israel launches multiple airstrikes on Lebanon on the average day, and these ground operations, while less regular, are just part of the continued operations that suggest the ceasefire didn’t really end the war.
The Lebanese Army showed up in the area on Tuesday, after the overnight roadblock construction, and are aiming to dismantle it. The reports don’t indicate where exactly the roadblock is positioned, beyond being east of Mays al-Jabal.
Ground incursions are mostly an issue since February, when Israel mostly ended its military occupation of the south. They retained five military outposts they constructed inside Lebanese territory, and have expanded the area around those outposts where they forbid Lebanese people.
Israeli continued its airstrikes against southern Lebanon over the holiday weekend as well. One person was killed in a drone strike in Majdal Zoun on Monday. The IDF claimed the person killed was a member of the elite Radwan Force of Hezbollah.
Israel almost always reports people they killed as high-ranking Hezbollah members, despite the lack of evidence to support those allegations in most cases. They also claim the presence of Hezbollah members south of the Litani River is a violation of the terms of the ceasefire.
The Radwan Force has been a relatively popular claim of late, with several Radwan members allegedly killed in the past few weeks. Though Hezbollah normally issues statements when their leaders are killed, they have not confirmed many of the recent deadly Israelis strikes actually killed their members.
