Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Fadel Itani/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein speaks to reporters after a meeting with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Oct. 21, 2024
(JNS) — Washington has backed up Paris’s assertions that Israel is violating the terms of last week’s ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, that formally ended 14 months of hostilities with the Hezbollah terrorist group.
U.S. presidential envoy Amos Hochstein, who played a pivotal role in brokering the deal, conveyed a message to officials in Jerusalem that they are not abiding by the truce terms, Ynet reported on Monday.
Sources told the Hebrew news outlet that the Americans believe that there have been violations on the Israeli side, primarily its use of surveillance drones over the skies of Beirut.
The sources stressed that for the ceasefire to hold, “restraint is required from all sides.”
Paris, a member of the Washington-led monitoring mechanism overseeing the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement, had accused Jerusalem of committing 52 ceasefire violations, according to Hebrew media reports on Sunday that cited French diplomatic sources.
The sources alleged that Israel had bypassed the established channels for reporting violations before taking action.
The reports also claim that three Lebanese civilians were killed and highlight an increase in Israeli drone activity, claiming that low-altitude flights over Beirut had resumed.
Paris is reportedly in ongoing communication with Lebanese Army Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati to address these developments.
“The Lebanese are fully committed to upholding the ceasefire and preventing Hezbollah from reestablishing its presence in southern Lebanon, but they need time to demonstrate their efforts,” a French official told Ynet on Sunday.
According to a separate report by i24NEWS on Sunday, Jerusalem stated that the agreement’s implementation mechanism “will begin to accelerate” on Monday and Tuesday. An Israeli diplomatic source emphasized that “any violation will be met with a significant response, as is already happening on the ground.”
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar emphasized to his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot that Hezbollah terrorists must relocate north of the Litani River. Sa’ar warned that Jerusalem would continue to act against what he described as a “fundamental” breach of the ceasefire agreement.
In a social media post, Sa’ar stated that he had told Barrot during a telephone conversation that “Israel is not violating the ceasefire understandings but is instead enforcing them in response to Hezbollah’s violations.”
He reiterated Jerusalem’s commitment to fully implementing the agreement and made it clear that Israel “will not return to the reality of October 6, 2023,” the day before the Hamas-led massacre in the northwestern Negev which triggered the war in Gaza.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in an interview with Sky News Arabia on Monday that Israel “is committed to the ceasefire. Sixty days is a gradual phase to ensure that Hezbollah does not harm us or violate the agreement, as happened in 2006. UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese government must fulfill their roles — this is also in their interest. We need this period to ensure there are no terror bases there.”
He also emphasized that the Lebanese people and government must ensure that “Beirut and Southern Lebanon are free of weapons — not in homes, not in yards and not in children’s rooms.”
Hagari said that he had just returned from Maroun al-Ras in Southern Lebanon, and had observed Bint Jbeil.
“The message being conveyed is to Iran, to the militias in Iraq, and to other Iranian militias to learn from what happened. We will not allow what occurred on Oct. 7 to happen again,” he said.
Hagari also discussed the Syrian front, where the IDF has been busy thwarting Iranian smuggling operations to resupply Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Israel is closely monitoring developments in Syria and observes that the Iranian regime is sending reinforcements to Syria. Syria belongs to the Syrians, and we will ensure that Iran does not smuggle weapons to Lebanon and Hezbollah. We will act to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Lebanon and Hezbollah through Syria,” he said.
“Hezbollah has been defeated in the campaign. What happens in Syria concerns Syria, not Israel. We need to ensure that we are not threatened — we are a sovereign state, and we will ensure that Iranian weapons are not smuggled to Hezbollah. If they attempt to do so, we will act accordingly,” he concluded.
The Israel Defense Force struck three sites in Southern Lebanon on Monday where Hezbollah activity was detected, with a hit confirmed in Marjayoun. Additionally, warning shots were fired at Lebanese individuals approaching areas near the Israeli border.
