 "Israel threatens to ramp up attacks against Hezbollah as IDF bombards Lebanon despite ceasefire")
Tension in West Asia escalated after Israel threatened to step up its attacks against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The warning came a day after the Lebanese health ministry reported that four people had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Despite the 2024 ceasefire, Israel maintained its troops in five areas in southern Lebanon.
The Jewish nation has been conducting regular strikes in Lebanon in a bid to dismantle the Hezbollah network. On Sunday, Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, accused the Lebanese government of delaying efforts to dismantle Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah is playing with fire, and the president of Lebanon is dragging his feet,” Katz said in a statement. “The Lebanese government’s commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from southern Lebanon must be implemented. Maximum enforcement will continue and even intensify – we will not allow any threat to the residents of the north," he added.
4 killed in latest Israeli strike
The Israeli defence minister’s threat came as the country’s military confirmed that it had carried out an airstrike in southern Lebanon overnight that it said killed four members of the militant group’s elite Radwan Force.
According to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), the strike in the town of Kfar Reman targeted the unit’s logistics chief, who, while not named, was said to have been involved in the transfer of weapons and in “attempts to restore terror infrastructure” in southern Lebanon. The IDF said that the three other men killed were also members of the Radwan Force and that their activities had violated the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Lebanese media identified four men as Jawad Jaber, Hadi Hamid, Abdullah Kahil and Muhammad Kahil. It is pertient to note that Iran-backed Hezbollah was badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, but remains armed and financially resilient.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn September last year, Israel killed the group’s longtime chief, Hassan Nasrallah, along with many other senior leaders over the course of the war. To prevent the tensions from escalating further, both sides agreed to a US-brokered truce in November.
In the truce, Lebanon agreed that only state security forces would be permitted to bear arms – a commitment that, in effect, called for the complete disarmament of Hezbollah. Since then, Beirut has been facing pressure from the US, Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah’s domestic rivals to enforce that pledge.
With inputs from agencies.
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