Rockets launched from Lebanon to Israel for months on Saturday, prompting Israeli forces to strike at sites in southern Lebanon and said it was linked to the radical group Hezbollah.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least six people were killed in Israeli bombings and others were injured, which did not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Israeli military said it launched a second round of attacks Saturday night.
These attacks are the latest examples of how Gaza’s renewal Israeli offensive ripples in the Middle East. They also risked further destruction of the return of tens of thousands of displaced residents on both sides of the border who fled more than a year of battle between Israel and Hezbollah. The Israeli military said it had shot down three Lebanon rockets without casualties. The shell was a ceasefire made by the United States and France late last year since Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire.
Hezbollah denied involvement in the Rockets fires, followed by Israel’s attack on Lebanese clique’s Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza this week. Gaza health officials said the Israeli attacks had killed more than 600 Palestinians, and they did not say how many of them were combatants.
After a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 (which inspired the Gaza War), allies of militant groups began to unite to attack Israel throughout the Middle East. Last year, this escalated into a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah, which assassinated Hezbollah’s leadership and launched a ground invasion into Hezbollah’s southern Lebanon.
The truce came into effect in late November and was largely held. Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese government should prevent armed groups like Hezbollah from attacking Israel from Lebanese territory.
Lebanese leaders seem eager to make any new escalation with Israel. According to the country’s authorities, the Israel-Hebra War killed about 4,000 people in Lebanon, and more than one million people fled their homes. According to the United Nations, thousands of people remained displaced as of mid-March.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned his so-called “try to drag Lebanon back to the cycle of violence.” He called on the committee responsible for overseeing the ceasefire, including representatives from the United States and France, to prevent any violations that could threaten Lebanon.
Lebanese troops said on Saturday that it found and removed the rocket launcher in southern Lebanon. The national army is a unique force of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia that has long exerted a huge political and military influence in Lebanon.
“The military forces are continuing to take the necessary measures to control the situation in the south,” the Lebanese military said.
Israeli officials expressed doubts about whether Lebanese troops should comply with their mission to prevent attacks. Despite the truce, Israel continued to bomb Lebanon and believed it was violating the ceasefire militants.
Although the ceasefire initially stipulated that all Israeli withdrawals in late January, Israeli forces still control five points within Lebanese territory. Israeli Defense Minister Katz said Israeli forces will stay there indefinitely to protect Israeli towns near the Lebanese border.
The truce calls on the Lebanese government’s security forces to become the only armed force in southern Lebanon, but it is unclear to what extent Hezbollah has withdrawn its fighter jets and weapons.
The strike resumed in Gaza this week triggered attacks on Israel by at least another Hamas allies.
That ally, the Houthi militia of Yemen – like Hamas and Hezbollah, was supported by Iran – restored Israel’s launch of ballistic missiles at Israel and sent thousands of Israelis toward the fortified bomb shelter. Israel’s air defense system intercepted the missiles.
Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said they launched new attacks in Gaza, partly because Hamas released more Israeli and foreign hostages. Hamas believes that Israel is demolishing the ceasefire deal.
Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, said Israel and Hamas were “talking again” to try to resolve the deadlock in negotiations. He spoke in an extended interview with right-wing media figure Tucker Carlson on Friday.
Mr Witkov said the United States is now discussing how to demilitarize Hamas, part of the post-war Gaza.
“They need to demilitarize. So maybe they can stay there, right? Get involved politically.” “We can’t have a terrorist organization that runs Gaza.”
Mr Witkov said he believed that by restoring the fight against Hamas, Mr Netanyahu was “opposing public opinion” in Israel – Mr Vitkov broadly supported a deal to free the hostages.
Oun Ward Beirut, Lebanon and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Haifa from Israel.
