Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Israel launched another strike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, early on April 1, moving closer to renewing its war on Hezbollah.
In a joint statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security agency said that the strike targeted a member of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh.
“The strike targeted a Hezbollah terrorist who had recently directed Hamas operatives and assisted them in planning a significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians,” the statement reads.
“The terrorist posed a real and immediate threat,” it added.
The strike on Dahiyeh, a key stronghold of Hezbollah, killed three people and wounded at least seven others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a statement that the Israeli strike on Dahiyeh was a “clear breach” of the ceasefire brokered by the United States last November.
Salam condemned the strike as “a clear breach of the arrangements of the cessation of hostilities” and a “flagrant violation of United Nations Resolution 1701,” a Security Council decision that ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and served as the foundation of the current ceasefire.
The IDF halted strikes against Beirut after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire entered into effect on November 27, but continued to target the group in other parts of Lebanon. It also continues to deploy troops at five strategic posts in the south of the country.
On March 27, Israel targeted Dahiyeh for the first time since the start of the ceasefire. The strike was carried out in response to the firing of several rockets at northern Israel from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack at the time.
In a recent speech, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned that if Israel continues to carry out strikes in Lebanon, and the Lebanese government does not act to stop it, then the group will take matters into its own hands.
“We fully complied and we have no presence south of the Litani, but Israel did not abide,” Qassem said in a speech marking the Quds Day on March 30.
“Israel is carrying [out] aggressions every day. These are not violations. They are an aggression that crossed all limits,” he added.
He further asserted that Israel appeared to be pressuring Lebanon into normalizing relations, and warned that Hezbollah would not accept such a scenario.
The recent escalation by Israel against Lebanon appears to be very calculated and a part of a wider policy meant to increase pressure on Hezbollah.
The IDF saw much success after renewing its war on the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a ceasefire that was brokered by the U.S. in January. Israeli troops occupied key parts of the Palestinian enclave within a few days without facing any resistance or taking any losses.
Israel may be now planning to repeat the same scenario in Lebanon, hoping that ceasefire had also broken Hezbollah’s will to fight.
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