Israel Strikes Lebanon After Accusing Hezbollah of Cease-Fire Violation
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it had started conducting strikes in southern Lebanon after accusing Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, of a cease-fire violation.
The military said it could not provide further details at the moment.
Both sides have accused each other of violating the cease-fire for weeks. Asked for comment, a Hezbollah spokesman said the Israeli statements were “false claims and pretexts.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, the Arabic-language spokeswoman of the Israeli military, directed the residents of Al-Mansouri, a village in southern Lebanon, to leave their homes.
“For your safety, you are urged to evacuate from Al-Mansouri immediately and move at least 1,000 meters away,” Colonel Waweya wrote in a social media post, adding, “Remaining in the vicinity of Hezbollah operatives, military infrastructure, or weapons places your life at risk.”
The agreement between the United States and Iran in June to pause their war also called for an end to military operations in Lebanon. While there have been periodic flare-ups since then between Israel and Hezbollah, the two sides have largely scaled back their fighting against each other.
On Wednesday, Israeli and Lebanese negotiators were meeting in Rome for the second consecutive day of talks aimed at fostering a long-term diplomatic settlement.
Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in late June, separate from the deal between the United States and Iran, affirming “their mutual desire to live in security as neighboring sovereign states” and “their intent to conclusively end the conflict.”
The framework agreement outlined a plan for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon that hinges on the Lebanese Armed Forces restoring “effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory, pending the verified disarmament of nonstate armed groups and the dismantlement of associated infrastructure.”
Many experts have said that the Lebanese military lacks the resources required to disarm Hezbollah by force and that the Lebanese government is wary of clashing with the militant group, fearing it could spark a civil war.
Naim Qassem, the secretary general of Hezbollah, has rejected the framework deal, saying it was “totally” in Israel’s interest.
“In the end, no clause of this agreement will come to pass,” he said in a speech on July 8.
Hwaida Saad contributed reporting to this article.
