Israel has killed 11 people, including a State Security officer, in separate attacks in Lebanon, continuing its attacks on the country despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah that went into effect last week.
The ceasefire was called into question on Monday when Israeli airstrikes killed two people and Hezbollah launched a retaliatory attack on an Israeli military position. Israel responded with a series of airstrikes that killed at least nine people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Hezbollah said on Monday it had carried out an “initial defensive response” to “repeated violations” of the ceasefire by attacking an Israeli military base in the Kfar Chouba hills, a disputed area that Lebanon claims as its own.
According to Hezbollah, Israeli violations of the ceasefire, which went into effect on Wednesday, include deadly airstrikes across Lebanon, shootings of civilians in the south of the country, and drone and aircraft flights over Lebanese airspace, including the capital Beirut.
The group said it launched the “warning” attack because “appeals to the relevant authorities to stop these violations have not been successful.”
However, Hezbollah’s move did not prevent further Israeli attacks. Israel has carried out numerous airstrikes, promising a “harsh” response to Hezbollah’s attack.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the Israeli strikes killed five people in Haris and four in Talloussah in southern Lebanon. The renewed violence highlights the fragility of the ceasefire that ended a devastating war that has killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon, with Hezbollah firing rockets into Israel daily.
Earlier on Monday, Lebanon’s State Security Agency said an Israeli missile killed civil servant Mahdi Khreis in the southern district of Nabatieh, calling the incident a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire and a dangerous escalation.
Israeli shelling in neighboring Marjayoun killed another person, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. A drone strike in the northeast of the country also wounded a Lebanese soldier.
Although the ceasefire calls for a ceasefire by all sides, Israel has carried out almost daily attacks on Lebanon.
Lebanese media also reported that the Israeli military was using the ceasefire to advance into new settlements in towns it had occupied during the war.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said that life in Lebanon had “started to return to normal” after the ceasefire was reached, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people returning to their homes.
“It now appears that, given Israel’s persistence in violating the ceasefire, Hezbollah has felt it necessary to say … that these violations must stop or the situation could spiral out of control,” Hashem said.
After months of low-intensity conflict, Israel launched an all-out war against Lebanon on September 23 with the stated goal of defeating Hezbollah.
The Lebanese group has been targeting Israeli military bases in northern Israel for months in an effort it says is aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war on Gaza.
Israel killed top Hezbollah military and political leaders early in the war, including the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
It has also destroyed thousands of buildings and homes across Lebanon, focusing on the south and east of the country and the suburbs of Beirut – areas where Hezbollah enjoys strong support.
However, Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets into northern and central Israel. The group also said it had inflicted heavy casualties on Israeli troops who crossed into Lebanese territory.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States and France, requires the Israeli military to leave Lebanon within 60 days, while Hezbollah must withdraw from the border with Israel to the north of the Litani River.
During the two-month period, the Lebanese army is expected to be the only armed force in southern Lebanon.
Israel claims its latest airstrikes are aimed at “ensuring” a ceasefire, the agreement bans attacks by all sides, according to the Klix.ba.
