Israel, Hezbollah fighting stretches a cease-fire deal to the limit
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. An Israel-Lebanon cease-fire that calmed months of cross-border bloodshed is being strained as the two sides accuse each other of violations and the U.S. races to make sure the deal holds.
Israel still has troops on the ground in Lebanon and has continued to regularly strike Hezbollah infrastructure and weapons depots. In a complaint to the United Nations Security Council, Lebanon accused Israel of some 800 land and air attacks since the cease-fire came into effect on Nov. 27.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls much of southern Lebanon, of maintaining fighters and weapons including rockets in the south that threaten its security, also in violation of the two-month truce. The trouble comes ahead of a Jan. 26 deadline for Israeli forces to leave, following their incursions into southern Lebanon across almost the entire swath of the border.
Under the terms of the truce, the U.S.-backed Lebanese military is to move in as Israel leaves and work with U.N. peacekeepers to keep the area clear of the Hezbollah militia, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. But Israel is worried that the undermanned, outgunned Lebanese military isn’t up to the task of preventing Hezbollah from eventually rebuilding near the border areas.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said over the weekend that if Lebanon’s army doesn’t enforce the agreement, Israel will step up military action. “If this condition isn’t met, there won’t be a deal," Katz said. A collapse of the deal would risk reigniting the fighting that has depopulated a stretch of northern Israel and, according to Lebanon’s health authorities, left thousands of Lebanese dead.
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