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On Tuesday, Israel threatened to return to war in Lebanon if its truce with Hezbollah failed, and said this time its attacks would reach deeper and target the Lebanese state itself, after the deadliest day of the agreed ceasefire on fire last week.
In its strongest threat since a truce was reached to end a 14-month war with Hezbollah, Israel said it would hold Lebanon accountable for failing to disarm the militants who violated the truce.
“If we go back to war, we will act strongly, we will go deeper, and the most important thing they need to know: that there will no longer be an exception for the state of Lebanon,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
“If until now we separated the state of Lebanon from Hezbollah… it will no longer be (so),” he said during a visit to the northern border area.
Despite last week's truce, Israeli forces have continued strikes in southern Lebanon against what they say are Hezbollah fighters who are ignoring a ceasefire agreement and withdrawing north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border.
On Monday, Hezbollah fired on an Israeli military post, while Lebanese authorities said at least 12 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon. Another person was killed Tuesday by a drone strike, Lebanon said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any violation of the truce, no matter how small, would be punished.
“We are enforcing this ceasefire with an iron fist,” he said before a cabinet meeting in the northern border town of Nahariya. “We are currently in a truce, I note, a truce, not an end to war.
Lebanon asks the US and France to pressure Israel to maintain a ceasefire
The government in Beirut should “authorize the Lebanese army to impose its part, keep Hezbollah far beyond Litani and dismantle all the infrastructure,” Katz said.
“If they don't and this whole arrangement falls apart, then the reality will be very clear.
Senior Lebanese officials have called on Washington and Paris to press Israel to abide by the ceasefire following dozens of military operations on Lebanese soil that Beirut considers violations, two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
WATCH | Lebanon and Israel exchange accusations of truce violations:
At least nine people were killed and three wounded overnight by Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, while the Israeli military said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets across the country. Those strikes came shortly after Hezbollah accused Israel of violating the ceasefire and fired rockets at an Israeli military position in the disputed Shebaa Farms area.
The sources said caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close Hezbollah ally who brokered the deal on behalf of Lebanon, spoke with officials at the White House and the French presidency late Monday.
Mikati, quoted by the Lebanese News Agency, said diplomatic communications had intensified since Monday to stop Israeli violations of the ceasefire. He also said a recruitment campaign was underway for the Lebanese army to strengthen its presence in the south.
US State Department spokesman Matt Miller told reporters on Monday that the ceasefire was “holding” and that the US had “anticipated that there could be violations”.
Neither the French presidency nor the foreign ministry were available for comment. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Monday, saying both sides should stick to the ceasefire.
The cease-fire came into effect on November 27 and prohibits Israel from conducting offensive military operations in Lebanon, while requiring Lebanon to prevent armed groups, including Hezbollah, from launching attacks against Israel. It gives Israeli troops 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
International monitoring
A mission chaired by the United States is tasked with monitoring, verifying and helping to enforce the ceasefire, but has not yet begun work.
Berry on Monday urged the mission to “urgently” ensure Israel halts its violations, saying Beirut has recorded at least 54 Israeli violations of the ceasefire so far.
Israel has said its continued activity in Lebanon is aimed at enforcing the ceasefire.
Lebanon's Mikati met in Beirut on Monday with US General Jasper Jeffers, who will chair the monitoring committee.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that France's representative on the committee, General Guillaume Ponchin, would arrive in Beirut on Wednesday and that the committee would hold its first meeting on Thursday.
“There is an urgent need to finalize the mechanism, otherwise it will be too late,” the source said, referring to Israel's gradual escalation of strikes despite the ceasefire.
