Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) escalated against Hezbollah on May 1, killing two members of the group in separate drone strikes on southern Lebanon.
The first strike in the town of Mays al-Jabal targeted a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, the IDF said in a statement, adding that the second strike, in the same village, targeted a member of the group who was carrying out surveillance operations along the border.
Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed the strikes, saying one killed a Lebanese national and wounded two Syrians, and that another person was killed in the other.
Hezbollah accepted a ceasefire proposed by the United States following a costly confrontation with the IDF. The confrontation broke out more than a year earlier as a result of the Israeli war on the group’s ally, the Hamas Movement, in the Gaza Strip.
The ceasefire went into effect on November 27 and was supposed to end all clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border by February 18. However, the Israeli military continues to launch strikes against Hezbollah. It also maintains troops at five strategic points in southern Lebanon.
The deadly drone strikes came just a day after the AFP reported, citing a security source, that the Lebanese military had dismantled “over 90%” of Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the south of the country in line with the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.
At the start of the week, the IDF launched strikes against an alleged precision missile depot of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
The recent strikes were likely an attempt to provoke Hezbollah, which has refrained from retaliating to Israeli attacks since the start of the ceasefire. Any response by the group could provide the IDF with a pretext to restart full-on operations in Lebanon.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
