Hezbollah targets in Lebanon hit

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel’s military said Friday it struck “multiple” Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, two months into a fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese group after major hostilities last year.

“The targets that were struck include a Hezbollah terrorist site containing underground infrastructure, used to develop and manufacture weaponry and additional terrorist infrastructure sites on the Syrian-Lebanese border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weaponry into Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.

It said the overnight strikes were aimed at targets that “posed a threat” to Israel and Israeli troops.

On Thursday, the military said it intercepted a Hezbollah “surveillance” drone approaching Israeli territory, which it said “represents a breach of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

“The (army) continues to remain committed to the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, and will not permit any terrorist activity of this kind,” it said.

The Israeli army missed a 26 January deadline to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon. It now has until 18 February to do so.

Israel had made clear it had no intention of meeting the deadline, charging that the Lebanese army had not fulfilled its side of the bargain.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army is to deploy in the south as Hezbollah pulls its forces back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers from the border.

The Iran-backed militant group is also required to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure it has in the south.