Israel Targets Hezbollah Smuggling Sites in Syria, Straining Fragile Ceasefire

Israel Targets Hezbollah Smuggling Sites in Syria, Straining Fragile Ceasefire

Tel Aviv: Israeli aircraft targeted Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites along the Syria-Lebanon border, the Israeli military reported on Saturday. The strikes test the fragile ceasefire, which had brought an end to months of fighting between the two sides but has been marked by ongoing sporadic clashes.

The military said that it targeted sites used for smuggling weapons from Syria to Lebanon after the ceasefire went into effect, describing the activity as a violation of the ceasefire’s terms.

Syrian authorities, activists monitoring the conflict, and Hezbollah have not yet issued any immediate comments on the situation.

The Israeli strike, one of several since the ceasefire began on Wednesday, occurred amid growing unrest in the Middle East. Syrian insurgents launched a surprise offensive in Aleppo, the country’s largest city, further complicating a region already grappling with multiple conflicts.

The truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and France, calls for an initial two-month ceasefire in which the militants are to withdraw north of Lebanon’s Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border.

The repeated bursts of violence — with no reports of serious casualties — reflected the uneasy nature of the ceasefire that otherwise appeared to hold. While Israel has accused Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire, Lebanon has also accused Israel of the same in the days since it took effect.

Many Lebanese, some of the 1.2 million displaced in the conflict, were streaming south to their homes, despite warnings by the Israeli and Lebanese militaries to stay away from certain areas.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone attacked a car in the southern village of Majdal Zoun. The agency said there had been casualties but gave no further details. Majdal Zoun, near the Mediterranean Sea, is close to where Israeli troops still have a presence.

The military said earlier Saturday that its forces, who remain in southern Lebanon until they withdraw gradually over the 60-day period, had been operating to distance “suspects” in the region, without elaborating, and said troops had located and seized weapons found hidden in a mosque.

Israel says it reserves the right under the ceasefire to strike against any perceived violations. Israel has made returning the tens of thousands of displaced Israelis home the goal of the war with Hezbollah but Israelis, concerned Hezbollah was not deterred and could still attack northern communities, have been apprehensive about returning home.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and its assault on southern Israel the day before.

Israel and Hezbollah kept up a low-level conflict of cross-border fire for nearly a year, until Israel escalated its fight with a sophisticated attack that detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah fighters.

It followed that up with an intense aerial bombardment campaign against Hezbollah assets, killing many of its top leaders including longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah, and it launched a ground invasion in early October.

More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.

(with agency inputs)

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