One strike on the town of Haris killed five people and injured five others, while a raid on the town of Talousa killed four people and injured another [Getty]
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that diplomatic contacts were “ongoing and intensified” to stop Israeli violations of a ceasefire agreement as the death toll from Israeli airstrikes rose to 13 people since the truce went into effect on 27 November.
Mikati said that the Lebanese army was expanding deployment in south Lebanon, where Israeli forces were still occupying border areas.
He added that the Lebanese army had begun a recruitment process and had called on trainee soldiers to enlist to join combat units.
“The army leadership’s announcement… aligns with the implementation of the [ceasefire agreement] to increase the number of troops and enhance their deployment across various southern areas,” he said.
His comments came as Israel warned on Tuesday it will treat Hezbollah and the Lebanese state as one entity if a full-scale war resumes.
During a visit to Israel’s northern border on Tuesday, newly-appointed Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to use “maximum force” against Lebanon if Hezbollah retaliates, after his country repeatedly violated a ceasefire shortly after it came into effect.
“The Lebanese government must… allow the Lebanese army” to push Hezbollah north of the Litani River, threatening that his forces would “no longer distinguish” between the Shia movement and the Lebanese state if a war resumed, according to Israeli media reports.
Katz said Israel would have “zero tolerance” and would “respond forcefully” to any attacks on its forces.
His comments came after Hezbollah fired two missiles at Israeli positions in the occupied Lebanese Kfarchouba Hills, adjacent to the Shebaa Farms, also occupied by Israel, on Monday.
The Lebanese group said its attack was a “warning” to Israel and a “defensive response” to repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement that went into effect on 27 November.
Since then, Israeli forces have carried out dozens of attacks on Lebanese territory, killing at least 13 people, as well as repeated aerial overflights in violation of the agreement and Lebanese sovereignty.
Late on Monday, Israel launched attacks on southern Lebanon killing at least nine people, after Hezbollah’s retaliatory strikes.
The bombing of the town of Haris killed five people and injured five others, while a raid on the town of Talousa killed four people and injured another, according to health ministry statements carried by the Lebanese state news agency NNA.
Israeli raids were also reported on Balat Borghoz on the Litani River and other areas in the south, which were described by Lebanese media outlets as part of “a series of violations” by Israel since Wednesday.
Over 54 violations by Israel since ceasefire
Israel has carried out a near-daily series of strikes in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire was put in place, and earlier on Monday, Beirut’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon had recorded over 54 violations since Wednesday.
“The aggressive actions carried out by Israeli occupation forces… represent a flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement,” said Berri, who helped mediate the truce on behalf of Hezbollah.
A committee including France, UN peacekeepers, Israel, Lebanon and chaired by the US is tasked with maintaining communication between the various parties and ensuring violations are identified and dealt with to avoid further escalations.
“We ask the technical committee formed to monitor the implementation of this agreement where it stands on ongoing violations… that have exceeded 54 breaches,” Berri added, urging it to “oblige Israel to stop its violations and withdraw from territories it occupies”.
In Saudi Arabia, where French President Emmanuel Macron is on a state visit, he and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to “make every effort to contribute to de-escalation in the region”, including helping to consolidate the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
The two leaders also called for presidential elections in Lebanon “with the aim of bringing the Lebanese people together and carrying out the reforms necessary for the stability and security of the country”, Macron’s office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, both Lebanon and Israel told Washington they were committed to the ceasefire despite recent flareups, according to an Axios report on Monday.
The US said it believed that a ceasefire was still holding in Lebanon and was looking at potential violations.
