JERUSALEM (AP) — Hezbollah fired on Monday towards a border area controlled by Israel, after multiple Israeli attacks on Lebanon since a ceasefire came into effect last week. The Lebanese political-paramilitary group said it was a warning shot in response to what it described as repeated Israeli violations of the truce.
Israeli leaders threatened retaliation, and the Israeli army bombed southern Lebanon hours later, including five strikes in the Al Tufa region, as reported by Lebanese state media. There was no immediate information about casualties or where the bombs fell. Israeli attacks in Lebanon in recent days have killed at least four people and injured others.
The attacks have further strained the fragile ceasefire mediated by the United States and France, which began on Wednesday and establishes a 60-day pause in fighting. Its goal is to end more than a year of war between Hezbollah and Israel, which is part of a broader regional conflict triggered by the devastating war in Gaza.
The President of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, accused Israel of violating the ceasefire more than 50 times in recent days, with attacks and the demolition of houses near the border, as well as drone overflights.
Israel claims that its attacks were in response to violations by Hezbollah of the ceasefire, which were not specified, and asserts that according to the ceasefire agreement it reserves the right to retaliate.
The Israeli army indicated that Hezbollah launched two projectiles towards Mount Dov on Monday, a disputed territory controlled by Israel known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel meet. Israel stated that the projectiles landed in open areas and no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah stated in a press release that it attacked an Israeli military position in the area as a "defensive and warning response" after the "repeated violations" of the ceasefire agreement by Israel. They claimed that the complaints submitted to the mediators responsible for monitoring the ceasefire "were useless in stopping these violations."
Officials from the United States, who along with France lead a commission aimed at monitoring adherence to the agreement, downplayed the importance of the Israeli attacks. The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, stated that "in general terms, the ceasefire is holding."
"We have gone from dozens of attacks to one a day, maybe two a day," Kirby told reporters. "We are going to keep trying and see what we can do to reduce them to zero."
Israel threatens retaliation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Hezbollah shootings were "a serious violation" and promised that "Israel will respond forcefully." Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the Hezbollah shootings will receive "a harsh response."
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah has 60 days to withdraw its fighters and infrastructure from southern Lebanon, moving back to the north of the Litani River, which is about 30 kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon border. During this time, Israeli troops must also withdraw to their side of the border.
On the Monday before the Hezbollah fire, Israel launched at least four airstrikes and a barrage of artillery fire against southern Lebanon, including a drone attack that killed a person on a motorcycle, according to Lebanese state media. Another attack killed a Lebanese security services corporal. The Israeli military stated that it conducted operations in the south against Hezbollah fighters "to thwart threats against Israeli civilians."
On Monday, Israel also attacked a Lebanese army bulldozer, injuring a soldier, in the northeastern city of Hermel, well north of the Litani River. The Israeli army claimed that it targeted military vehicles operating "in the vicinity of a Hezbollah missile manufacturing site."
The Lebanese army, which had stayed out of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, must deploy additional troops in the south alongside UN peacekeepers to ensure Hezbollah's withdrawal from the area. Another Israeli attack on Saturday in the southern area of Marjayoun killed two people, according to state media.
In a video statement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Israel would attack Hezbollah fighters in the south when they are identified or seen trying to move weapons.
"Their presence south of the Litani River is the most basic violation of the understandings... They must move north immediately," he said, despite the 60-day period granted by the agreement for withdrawal.
Fears of famine in Gaza
Meanwhile, in Gaza, alarm over the increasing hunger was growing. The amount of food allowed by Israel has decreased in the past two months, and on Sunday the UN announced that it would halt aid deliveries from the main crossing into the territory due to the threat of armed groups looting the convoys.
Experts had already warned about a famine in the northernmost part of Gaza, which Israeli forces have almost completely isolated since early October.
Muhannad Hadi, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, warned on Monday of a "severe increase in hunger" in central and southern Gaza as well. Speaking at a conference in Cairo aimed at increasing aid, he said that over 1 million people have not received their monthly food rations since July.
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, triggered by the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas in southern Israel, has displaced almost the entire population of the territory. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now live in unhealthy camps and rely on international aid.
In a camp in the city of Deir al-Balah, in the center of Gaza, Palestinians lined up at improvised clay ovens trying to buy a few loaves of bread for their families.
With the price of flour increasing due to scarcity, the female bakers - displaced women from the north - said they could bake less bread, and families could afford much less.
"They distribute them to their children, a loaf each day," said Wafaa al-Attar, who was selling bread she had made in a clay oven.
A distant relative who also sells bread, Enayat al-Attar, said that some people were splitting a single flatbread among themselves. "The flour is running out for everyone," she remarked.
The Israeli army said it allowed the entry of 40 trucks carrying 600 tons of flour for the World Food Program in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday night, as well as another 16 trucks of food.
In November, an increase was reported in the average number of humanitarian trucks that Israel allowed to enter Gaza, up to 77 per day, compared to 57 the previous month, according to Israeli official figures.
But the levels are still almost the lowest in 15 months of war. And the UN says that less than half of that actually reaches the Palestinians because Israeli military restrictions, fighting, and theft make it too dangerous to distribute aid.
On Sunday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced that it would suspend aid deliveries through Kerem Shalom, the main artery for aid, due to repeated thefts.
He blamed the collapse of public order largely on Israeli policies.