Israel conducts airstrikes on Lebanon days into fragile truce

OCUUPIED JERUSALEM — The Israeli military carried out air strikes in Lebanon Saturday against Hizbollah activities that it said "posed a threat", days into a fragile ceasefire between it and the Iran-backed group.

The army said it had also struck "military infrastructure" on the Syria-Lebanon border, where it accused Hizbollah of smuggling weapons in violation of the truce.

In a speech this week announcing his government was ready to accept a ceasefire after more than a year of war on Lebanon, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned that Israel would maintain "full military freedom of action" in the event of any breach.

Lebanon's health ministry said that an Israeli "strike on a car in Majdal Zoun wounded three people including a seven-year-old child".

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported "continued violations of the ceasefire" by Israel, including an incident in which an Israeli tank "crushed a number of cars and surrounded some families" who were later evacuated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Separately, Israel's military said it had launched a "strike on military infrastructure sites adjacent to border crossings between Syria and Lebanon that were actively used by Hizbollah to smuggle weapons", adding that the alleged smuggling took place after the ceasefire took effect. 

US general discusses ceasefire 

The ceasefire deal, which was intended to end more than a year of cross-border exchanges of fire and two months of all-out war, went into effect early on Wednesday.

As part of the terms of the agreement, the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers will deploy in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army withdraws over a period of 60 days.

Hizbollah is also meant to withdraw its forces north of the Litani river, approximately 30 kilometres from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in southern Lebanon. 

On Friday, the group's chief Naim Qassem vowed to cooperate with the Lebanese army "to implement the commitments of the agreement".

NNA reported that army chief Joseph Aoun met US Major General Jasper Jeffers to discuss "the general situation and coordination mechanisms between concerned parties in the south".

The US military's Central Command said Jeffers arrived in Beirut this week "to serve as co-chair for the implementation and monitoring mechanism of the cessation of hostilities".

According to Lebanon's health ministry, at least 3,961 people have been killed in the country since October 2023 as a result of the Israel-Hizbollah conflict, most of them in recent weeks.

On the Israeli side, the hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.

Hamas publishes hostage video 

Israel stepped up its campaign in south Lebanon in late September after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges begun by Hizbollah in support of its ally Hamas following the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Israel's campaign has killed 44,382 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

Hamas's armed wing published a video Saturday of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.

In the video, Alexander addresses US President-elect Donald Trump in English and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Hebrew, and calls on Israelis to put pressure on the government to secure the release of the hostages.

"The shocking video of Edan, an American-Israeli citizen, is definite proof that despite all the rumours -- there are living hostages and they are suffering greatly," the Hostage Families Forum campaign group said in a statement, adding that "returning the hostages is only possible through a deal".

Meanwhile, the US charity World Central Kitchen said Saturday it was "pausing operations in Gaza" after an Israeli air strike hit a vehicle carrying its workers.

The Israeli military earlier confirmed that a strike in Gaza killed a Palestinian employee of the charity, accusing the worker of being a "terrorist" who "infiltrated Israel and took part in the murderous October 7 massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz".

While WCK confirmed a strike had hit its staff, it did not confirm any deaths, noting it was "working with incomplete information".

Earlier Saturday, civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the bodies of "at least five dead were transported (to hospital), including the three employees of World Central Kitchen".

Israeli representatives demanded that WCK "order an urgent examination regarding the hiring of workers who took part in the October 7 massacre", an army statement said.

In its statement, WCK said it "had no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the October 7 Hamas attack".