IGOR GIELOW
In a demonstration of the fragility of the two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, both rivals accused each other of violating the arrangement this Thursday (28) – the second day of validity of the agreement.
According to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces, vehicles with suspected members of the rival organization were seen entering the region south of the Litani River, which is 30 km from the Israeli border and marks the beginning of the buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
Invaded by Israel last month, under the agreement the area will be occupied by the Lebanese Army and prohibited for Hezbollah fighters, who have made their bases there for attacks against Israel since the end of the most recent war between the rivals in 2006.
That year, a UN Security Council resolution determined an arrangement similar to that now mediated by the United States, with French participation. It, like the informal agreement when Israel ended 18 years of occupation of the region in 2000, failed.
Afterwards, Israel said it had bombed a Lebanese group’s missile arsenal, also in the south of the country.
A deputy from Hezbollah, which is also a political party, said Israel shot at civilians returning to their homes in southern Lebanon. “There are violations today by Israel, even like this,” said Hassan Fadlallah in Parliament.
The Lebanese Army in turn urged residents not to return to areas where the Israelis are still operating. However, the military later said that Israel had repeatedly violated the truce with its actions.
It is not yet clear whether the exchange of accusations puts the entire ceasefire at risk, which does not yet appear to be the case. A drone hit at least three of the suspects, according to Lebanese media, and the Tel Aviv army promised to use force to maintain the truce, a contradiction in terms.
Earlier, the country’s tanks had fired on positions attributed to Hezbollah in six border cities, in an incident currently considered isolated. The locations are within the so-called Blue Line, a 2 km wide strip that should militarily mark the separation of forces on the border.
In any case, the hostility demonstrates the volatility of the arrangement. The day before, Hezbollah had tried to paint the ceasefire as a victory, promised to maintain support for Palestinian Hamas, the nominal reason for its current war with Israel, and said to “keep your finger on the trigger.”
It’s not that simple. The border skirmishes that began after terrorists from the Gaza Strip launched the deadly attack on October 7, 2023, a somewhat timid form of support, ended up turning into a heavy war at the end of September.
Israel killed almost all of Hezbollah’s leadership, including its supreme commander, Hassan Nasrallah. He destroyed what he called 80% of the group’s arsenal of missiles and rockets, estimated at almost 200,000 weapons, the most powerful in the world in the hands of a non-state actor.
The group, supported like Hamas by Iran, in any case maintained its routine of launching projectiles against Israel, even when it was weakened. The entire southern pocket of the country is considered by experts to be a complex network of bunkers and tunnels with weapons deposits, which Israel aimed to degrade after once again invading the neighboring country.
The ceasefire was celebrated in both Gaza and Tehran as a possibility for greater regional peace, without the belligerents abandoning their anti-Israel rhetoric.
This Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the conditions for a possible agreement around Gaza “are more favorable”, despite mutual accusations on their northern border.
