On Saturday evening, the Israeli army blew up several homes in four towns located in southern Lebanon, despite the ceasefire being in effect.
The National News Agency reported that the Israeli army carried out new demolition operations in the city of Bint Jbeil, where its forces remained stationed despite the declared truce with Hezbollah, and indicated repeated “house bombings” in the city, in addition to similar operations in other border towns, including Al-Khiyam, Markaba, and Al-Taybeh.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced, hours after the truce entered into force, that the army would continue to “cleanse” what he called the “security zone” in southern Lebanon, adding that homes in front-line villages would be “destroyed,” considering that they had “effectively become strongholds” for “Hezbollah.”
In a related context, Israeli artillery bombed the outskirts of the town of Deir Sarayan, targeting the riverbed opposite the eastern town of Zawtar, according to what the National News Agency announced.
The agency also reported that Israeli forces closed all entrances to the town of Khiam on Saturday afternoon, using dirt barriers and obstacles to prevent entry into it. This came after carrying out another bombing in the town earlier the same day.
This comes after US President Donald Trump announced, on Thursday, the start of a ten-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which came into effect at midnight Thursday-Friday, following intense Israeli raids targeting Lebanon since March 2, after Hezbollah fired missiles at Iran in “revenge” for the killing of Iranian guide Ali Khamenei.
On the other hand, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned that the party’s members would respond to Israeli “violations” of the ceasefire agreement, stressing that the commitment “must be from both parties.” He added that the truce means “a complete cessation of all hostilities,” and stressed that the party’s fighters “will remain in the field with their hands on the trigger, and will respond to violations accordingly.”
On the other hand, the Israeli army announced on Saturday that one of its soldiers was killed on Friday in southern Lebanon as a result of wounds he sustained after the ceasefire took effect, explaining that the soldier, a 48-year-old first sergeant, died as a result of his injury in an incident that also resulted in the wounding of three other soldiers, without providing further details.
However, the Ynet website reported that the incident occurred during a sweep of buildings in southern Lebanon, about 3.5 kilometers from the border, noting that the soldier was among the first to enter a booby-trapped building that later exploded.
