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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continues to launch strikes against targets belonging to Hezbollah amid the ceasefire with Lebanon.
Five people were injured in an Israeli drone strike in the southern Lebanese town of Majdal Selm on January 29, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The IDF has not yet claimed responsibility for the strike. Neither the Lebanese or Hebrew media have clarified the nature of the target.
In a separate Israeli strike a day earlier, the IDF targeted what it said were vehicles belonging to Hezbollah that were being used to transfer weapons near the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh. The military said that the movement of the vehicles constituted a ceasefire violation on the part of the group.The Lebanese health ministry said 24 people were injured in the strike.
Following the first strike, senior Hezbollah official Mohammad Raad said that the Lebanese people have a “sacred and legitimate right” to resist Israeli attacks, and said this right should be exercised at the time and place deemed necessary to protect the country’s security.
The strikes came as the IDF was issuing warnings against civilians returning to town in southern Lebanon, where it said its troops will remain until February 18. The troops were supposed to withdraw by January 26, but Israel alleged that the Lebanese military was not fully deployed in the region.
Under the ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States last November, Hezbollah must pull back north of the Litani River while Israel is supposed to withdraw from the region. The agreement does allow the IDF to o strike threats it considers imminent, and forward less imminent threats to a monitoring committee comprising representatives of Lebanon, Israel, France, the United States and United Nations forces.
The agreement helped de-escalate the conflict, which broke out as a result of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. However, it is clearly in favor of the Israeli side.
The conflict between the IDF and Hezbollah claimed the lives of some 4,000 people in Lebanon and 130 others in Israel.
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