The Iran-backed terror proxy, Hezbollah, staged fresh attacks against Israeli troops as peace talks between Israel and Lebanon resumed in Washington. The direct talks, the first bilateral exchange in 34 years, come as a 10-day ceasefire brokered by President Trump is set to expire this Sunday.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, in a statement on Thursday, observed that “Hezbollah has already committed five ceasefire violations.”
“Hezbollah continues to breach the ceasefire and threaten IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians, including by launching a hostile aircraft toward IDF forces and crossing the Forward Defense Line to approach soldiers, posing an immediate danger,” the ministry added, asking for Lebanon’s “full compliance” with the truce agreement.
After decades of failing to stop Hezbollah’s strikes against Israel, the Lebanese government is calling for a further extension of the ceasefire by three to six weeks.
Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reports:
The second round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington is scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM local time, according to a source at the Lebanese embassy quoted by the daily newspaper An-Nahar . These discussions are taking place against the backdrop of a fragile ten-day ceasefire between the two countries. According to the same sources, Beirut is expected to request an extension of the current truce from 20 to 40 days.
It is unlikely the Lebanese government will use this interval to disarm Hezbollah. Under the previous Trump-brokered ceasefire agreement, Beirut had agreed to defang the terrorist group by the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops manning the security buffer in southern Lebanon face daily terror attacks despite the ceasefire. The Israeli-controlled buffer includes strategic heights and ridges used by Hezbollah to fire mortars and missiles at Israeli troops and civilians in northern Israel. Around 80,000 residents were forced to flee their homes in northern Israel after Hezbollah, on October 8, 2023, began firing missiles, rockets, and drones across the border.
On Thursday, “the Hezbollah terrorist organization launched an anti-tank missile toward IDF soldiers operating south of the Forward Defense Line in southern Lebanon,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) disclosed. “This incident constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
An Israeli strike on Wednesday, “eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist who was operating at a launch site of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Sejoud area in southern Lebanon, in order to prevent a direct threat to the communities of northern Israel,” the IDF revealed. “The terrorist was eliminated in an aerial strike in order to prevent the continuation of his activity at the launch site.”
Amid continued Hezbollah attacks, the IDF urged Lebanese civilians not to approach the Litani River, the 90-mile natural barrier cutting across southern Lebanon. The Iranian-backed terrorist group is embedded in the area, holed up in tunnels and civilian houses.
The Jerusalem Post reported:
The IDF’s Arabic spokesperson Col. (res.) Avichay Adraee reaffirmed a warning for residents of southern Lebanon, reminding them that Israeli troops remain deployed in the area and are actively fighting Hezbollah, in a post on X/Twitter on Thursday.Adraee reiterated that civilians are required not to move further south of a list of villages and are not permitted to approach the Litani River area for safety reasons.
In early March, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the conflict by attacking Israel at the behest of Iran. Throughout the six-week war, Iran and Hezbollah carried out coordinated missile attacks, aimed at overwhelming Israeli air defense systems.
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