JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it targeted three members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
“Since this morning (Sunday), the IDF (military) has struck three Hezbollah terrorists in several areas in southern Lebanon. The terrorists took part in attempts to reestablish Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure,” the military said in a statement.
“Their activities constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” it added, referring to a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end over a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
A November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, which broke out after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
But Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure to stop the group from rearming.
The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately.
But later Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said “the strike was temporarily suspended,” adding that the military “continues to monitor the target.”
The suspension came after the Lebanese army “requested access again to the specified site... and to address the breach of the agreement,” he said on X.
Adraee added that the military would “not allow” Hezbollah to “redeploy or rearm.”
The year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism includes the United Nations, the United States and France.
A Lebanese security source said the army had previously tried to search the building that the Israeli military wanted to target but could not because of objections from residents.
But the source told AFP that the Lebanese army was able to enter and search the building after returning a second time, because residents “felt threatened,” adding that they were evacuated over fears of a strike.