Politics Israel warns Hezbollah of ceasefire violations

While Israel's army vigorously warns the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon against violating the ceasefire, it continues the war in the Gaza Strip against the Islamist Hamas.

On the first day after the ceasefire came into force, Israeli soldiers arrested suspects in the south of Lebanon who had approached restricted areas with Israeli troops still stationed there, said military spokesman Daniel Hagari in the evening. Several "terrorists" had also been killed.

The presence of armed people there was a violation of the agreement. "Any violation of the ceasefire will be met with fire", the army spokesman warned. Any armed person would be "neutralized" or arrested. The army spokesman also once again called on Lebanese civilians to wait before returning to the area.

Skepticism after the start of the ceasefire

The agreement on a ceasefire provides for Hezbollah to withdraw behind the Litani River about 30 kilometers north of the Israeli-Lebanese border in accordance with a UN resolution. However, it remains unclear who will decide whether those returning to southern areas are Hezbollah fighters, sympathizers or civilians. Israel's ground troops are to gradually withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days.

In future, the comparatively weak Lebanese army, whose contingent is to be increased from 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers in the border area, is to provide security in the south. However, it already failed to enforce agreements to end hostilities after the last war in 2006. This is why there are doubts about its ability to enforce the agreement this time too.

Before the agreement came into force on Wednesday night, Israel's army had attacked around 180 Hezbollah positions, said army spokesman Hagari. These included an underground rocket production facility around one and a half kilometers long. According to the Israeli army, this was the largest facility for the production of precision rockets of the pro-Iranian Shiite militia.

Israel's army continues to advance in Gaza

Even though there is still a long way to go before a safe and long-term end to the war, many people in Lebanon and Israel are breathing a sigh of relief that the heavy shelling and bombing have come to an end for the time being. For the Palestinian civilians in the embattled Gaza Strip, on the other hand, there is still no end in sight to the suffering. There, Israel's army continues to take action against the Islamist Hamas.

Medical circles and Palestinian media reported further fatalities in Israeli attacks in the city of Gaza and in the town of Beit Lahia. The Israeli army announced that it would continue its operations in Beit Lahia and in Jabalia in the north of the coastal region.

Hostage relatives demand Gaza deal

Hamas is still holding around 100 hostages who were abducted from Israel to the Gaza Strip after the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. "We are determined to bring them home," said Hagari. It is estimated that only around half of those kidnapped are still alive.

According to Israeli media reports, relatives of the hostages temporarily blocked the entrance to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's parliamentary office on Wednesday. They are demanding that he make a deal with Hamas, just as he did with Hezbollah in Lebanon. "If you want, you can. Please, we implore you with all our hearts," one relative was quoted as saying. Critics accuse Netanyahu of having effectively given up the hostages.

Egyptian security sources said that the USA was in contact with Egypt, Turkey and Qatar in order to reach an agreement to end the war in Gaza. Hamas reaffirmed its fundamental willingness to end the fighting. However, a representative of the Islamists also told the German Press Agency that they were insisting on their conditions for a ceasefire.

The Gaza war was triggered by the October massacre by Hamas and other terrorist groups, in which they killed around 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages in Gaza. Shortly afterwards, Israel launched a ground offensive to destroy Hamas. Since then, according to the Hamas-controlled authorities in the Gaza Strip, more than 44,200 people have been killed. The figure does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and is almost impossible to verify.

Hamas insists on its conditions

They respect Hezbollah's decision, but the Palestinian people are not prepared to give up their resistance against Israel despite the suffering in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas representative told dpa. The terrorist organization's conditions have remained unchanged since the beginning of the Gaza war: Among other things, in return for the release of Israeli hostages, it is demanding a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza. However, Israel wants to keep its troops in strategic positions in the sealed-off area.

SDA