Israel kills 11 people in Lebanon, Hezbollah retaliates

The truce agreement was pushed to the brink on Monday as Israel’s air strikes killed two people, and Hezbollah launched an attack against an Israeli military position in retaliation. Israel, then, responded with a series of air raids that killed at least nine people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hezbollah said on Monday that it carried out a “preliminary defensive response” to the “repeated violations” of the ceasefire by attacking an Israeli military base in the hills of Kfar Chouba, a disputed area that Lebanon claims as its own.

Hezbollah said Israeli breaches of the truce that went into effect on Wednesday include deadly air raids across Lebanon, shooting at civilians in the south, and flying drones and jets in Lebanese airspace, including over the capital, Beirut.

The group said it launched its “warning” strike because “appeals by the relevant authorities to stop these violations did not succeed”.

But the Hezbollah move did not appear to deter further Israeli assaults. Israel carried out multiple air strikes as a promised a “harsh” response to the Hezbollah attack.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said the raids killed five people in Haris and four in Talloussah in south Lebanon.

The renewed violence highlights the fragility of the ceasefire, which ended a devastating war that killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon and saw Hezbollah fire rockets daily at Israel.

Earlier on Monday, Lebanon’s State Security agency said an Israeli rocket killed officer Mahdi Khreis in the southern district of Nabatieh, calling the incident a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire and a dangerous escalation.

Israeli bombardment in neighbouring Marjayoun killed another person, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. A drone attack in the northeast of the country also injured a Lebanese soldier.

Although the ceasefire calls on all parties to hold their fire, Israel has been conducting near-daily assaults against Lebanon.

Lebanese media outlets have also reported that the Israeli military is using the truce to advance into new neighbourhoods in towns that it had entered during the war.

After months of low-level hostilities, Israel launched an all-out war on Lebanon on September 23 with the stated aim of defeating Hezbollah.

The Lebanese group had been targeting Israeli military bases in northern Israel for months in an effort that it said was aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war on Gaza.

Israel assassinated top Hezbollah military and political leaders early in the war, including the group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah.

It also levelled thousands of buildings and homes across Lebanon with its focus on southern and eastern Lebanon and the Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh – areas where Hezbollah is popular.

Still, Hezbollah continued to fire rockets at northern and central Israel. The group also said it inflicted heavy losses on invading Israeli troops that crossed into Lebanese territory.

The truce, which was brokered by the United States and France, stipulates that the Israeli military must withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days and Hezbollah must move away from the border with Israel to the north of the Litani River.

During those two months, the Lebanese army would deploy to southern Lebanon to be the only armed force there.

Although Israel said its recent air strikes are meant to “enforce” the truce, the agreement prohibits attacks by all sides.