IDF hits Hezbollah targets after terrorist drone sent into Israeli territory
Israeli Air Force fighter jets attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley overnight on Thursday after the Iranian-backed terrorist organization dispatched a surveillance drone over the Jewish state, the IDF said on Friday morning.
“The Hezbollah reconnaissance drone that made its way into Israeli territory yesterday and was intercepted by the Air Force constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military stated, in reference to the Nov. 26 ceasefire agreement.
Thursday’s incident marked the first time since the truce went into effect that Hezbollah sent an unmanned aerial vehicle toward Israel.
“Overnight, under intelligence guidance from the Military Intelligence Directorate, IAF fighter jets attacked several targets of the Hezbollah terror group in the Bekaa region of Lebanon that posed a threat to the Israeli home front and IDF forces,” the IDF statement announced.
Among the targets was a site with tunnels where weapons were produced and developed, as well as terrorist infrastructure on the Lebanon-Syria border through which Hezbollah smuggled arms.
“The IDF continues to be committed to the understandings regarding the ceasefire in Lebanon and will not allow the execution of terrorist plots of this type,” warned the military. “The IDF is deployed in the Southern Lebanon region and will work to eliminate any threat.”
Under the ceasefire’s terms, the Israel Defense Forces is to gradually withdraw from Lebanon’s south as the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops take over responsibilities for ensuring that Hezbollah remains disarmed south of the Litani River.
However, concerns are growing in Jerusalem about whether the LAF can fulfill its obligation to clamp down on Hezbollah’s presence in the south, and the IDF remains engaged in frequent operations in the border area.
On Wednesday, an IAF craft hit an “engineering vehicle” in Southern Lebanon after Israeli forces spotted Hezbollah terrorists trying to rebuild infrastructure in the area in violation of the ceasefire.
Earlier this week, Israeli forces struck a vehicle carrying Hezbollah terrorists who posed an imminent threat, the army said on Tuesday.
The IDF stressed that troops were actively working to eliminate threats and dismantle Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon, in accordance with the deal between Jerusalem and Beirut that went into effect on Nov. 27 and was extended on Sunday until Feb. 18.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem declared on Monday that the terrorist organization rejects any attempt to justify Jerusalem’s delay.
On Jan. 24, the Israeli government announced that its pullout would take longer than the 60-day deadline set by the ceasefire agreement.
The withdrawal of Jerusalem’s ground forces remains “conditional on the Lebanese Armed Forces deploying in Southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani,” declared the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
“Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the State of Lebanon, the phased withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States,” the statement continued.
Israel “will not endanger its communities and citizens, and will insist on the full implementation of the objective of the fighting in the north, which is the safe return of residents [of the Galilee] to their homes,” it added.
Source » jns.org
