Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90
Soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces Armored Corps operating in a village in Southern Lebanon on Nov. 20, 2024
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces said on Monday that it had struck two Hezbollah operatives near the Litani River, which divides Southern Lebanon from the rest of the country.
“A short while ago, the IDF attacked two terrorists from the Hezbollah terrorist organization who served as lookout operatives and directed terror activities in Southern Lebanon’s Yohmor area,” the IDF said.
The two “were involved in terrorist activities against the State of Israel,” said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. “Our policy is clear: zero tolerance for any violation. We will not allow any breach of the agreement, nor will we allow the Hezbollah terrorist organization to rebuild its capabilities,” he continued, referring to the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.
“Any terrorist who tries to harm Israeli civilians is a dead man. Those who challenge us will discover our strength,” he concluded.
Monday’s strike came a day after the Israeli military attacked a command-and-control center in Lebanon’s south used by Hezbollah’s Radwan Force. The IDF stressed that the presence of such terrorist infrastructure “constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Earlier on Sunday, the IDF confirmed that a parked vehicle near Moshav Avivim in northern Israel had been hit by gunfire likely from Lebanon. No injuries were reported, and the IDF said it was probing the incident.
“The claim that it was an errant bullet from the funeral of a Hezbollah terrorist in a nearby village [in Southern Lebanon] is completely unacceptable,” said Katz, according to Hebrew-language media.
Jerusalem will “not allow a reality of northern residents being fired on for any reason, and we will respond to any violation of the ceasefire” with Lebanon’s official government in Beirut, the minister added.
The situation in Lebanon remains volatile following the end of the truce on Feb. 18. The ceasefire, which went into effect on Nov. 27, ended more than a year of conflict, after Hezbollah began attacks on Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas-led massacre in the northwestern Negev.
On Tuesday, Israel and Lebanon initiated negotiations toward settling the border disputes between the countries. Representatives of the IDF, the U.S., France and Lebanon agreed during a meeting in Naqoura in Lebanon to establish working groups aimed at stabilizing the region.
