Israel on Saturday said it launched fresh attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, hours after intercepting three missiles fired from Lebanon, as a fragile ceasefire appeared on the brink of collapse.
The renewed shelling is the heaviest exchange of fire since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect in November.
“In response to the launching of rockets toward Israel this morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to act with force against dozens of terrorist targets in Lebanon,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
The IDF said it “struck dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers and a command center from which Hezbollah terrorists were operating in southern Lebanon.”
The attacks came after the IDF said it intercepted three projectiles launched from Lebanon at the northern Israeli border town of Metula, with no injuries or damage reported.
Hezbollah has so far not claimed responsibility for the attack.
Lebanese security sources told dpa that Israel responded with artillery in the village of Yohmor and the hills of al-Hamames, across the border from Metula.
Residents in the targeted areas reported hearing loud explosions due to the shelling.
NNA reported Israeli fighter jets as well as attacks involving artillery, tanks and machine guns in several locations.
In a statement posted on X, the Israeli military said Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir had conducted a “situational assessment” and that Israel would “respond severely to the morning’s attack.”
“The State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the [ceasefire] agreement,” it said.
Another ceasefire on the brink?
The fighting threatens to break the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been in place for five months.
The deal put a temporary end to more than a year of intense cross-border shelling between Israel and the Iran-backed group, which intensified when Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in October.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that renewed Israeli operations in southern Lebanon could risk dragging the country into a “new war.”
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) quoted Salam as stressing “the need to take all necessary security and military measures, confirming that the state alone has the power to decide war and peace,” in a conversation with Defence Minister Michel Menassa.
The conflict broke out following the October 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, with Hezbollah saying its attacks were in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Earlier this week, Israel also resumed widespread airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza, citing deadlocked negotiations with Hamas on expanding a ceasefire in place since January 19.
Hundreds of Gazans have reportedly been killed since the restart of the fighting early on Tuesday, which effectively shattered the temporary ceasefire.
Continued Israeli presence
Under the terms of the ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israeli troops are due to completely withdraw from southern Lebanon, but five military posts remain near the border to Israel.
The government in Beirut views the continued presence of Israeli units in the country as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
According to NNA, Salam also called UN official Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert to urge the United Nations to “redouble international pressure on Israel to withdraw completely from the occupied Lebanese territories.”
