Israel’s military said Friday it struck “multiple” Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, two months into a fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese group after major hostilities last year.
“The targets that were struck include a Hezbollah terrorist site containing underground infrastructure, used to develop and manufacture weaponry and additional terrorist infrastructure sites on the Syrian-Lebanese border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weaponry into Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.
It said the overnight strikes were aimed at targets that “posed a threat” to Israel and Israeli troops.
On Thursday, the military said it intercepted a Hezbollah “surveillance” drone approaching Israeli territory, which it said “represents a breach of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
“The (army) continues to remain committed to the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, and will not permit any terrorist activity of this kind,” it said.
The Israeli army missed a January 26 deadline to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon. It now has until February 18.
Israel had made clear it had no intention of meeting the deadline, charging that the Lebanese army had not fulfilled its side of the bargain.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army is to deploy in the south as Hezbollah pulls its forces back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border.
The Iran-backed militant group is also required to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure it has in the south.
US airstrike in Syria kills senior operative of Al-Qaeda affiliate
The US military said it killed a senior operative of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group in an airstrike in northwest Syria on Thursday.
The airstrike, part of an ongoing effort to disrupt and degrade militant groups in the region, resulted in the death of Muhammad Salah Al-Za’bir of the Hurras Al-Din group, the US Central Command said in a statement.
