Israel accuses Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire agreement

“The first condition to implement the agreement is that Hezbollah must completely withdraw from the Litani River area, destroy weapons and the Lebanese army must dismantle all of this group’s infrastructure here. However, up to now the conditions have not been met. This has not been done yet,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today.

Minister Katz warned that Israel “will take action on its own to ensure people living in the north return home safely” if the above conditions are not fulfilled. “We will not allow a new threat to form against the northern region and Israeli citizens,” he said.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem also previously accused Tel Aviv of violating the ceasefire, affirming that Hezbollah was ready to react even before the 60-day period for Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon expired.

“Hezbollah has confirmed that we are creating opportunities to prevent violations from the Israeli side, as well as will be patient to implement the agreement,” he said.

The ceasefire agreement takes effect from November 27, 2024, two months after Israel escalated its campaign against Hezbollah. The two sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire since then.

According to the agreement, Israel will withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon within 60 days, Hezbollah will retreat to the north bank of the Litani River, about 30 km from the border, and destroy all remaining military infrastructure of the group in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese Army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will deploy in the area.

A committee with members from Israel, Lebanon, the US and France and UNIFIL representatives is responsible for identifying and handling ceasefire violations. UNIFIL has also repeatedly accused Israel of violating the agreement.