Israeli aircraft targeted Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites along Syria’s border with Lebanon on Saturday, the Israeli military reported, testing the fragile, days-old ceasefire that has been marked by sporadic violations.
The military said it targeted sites that had been used to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon after the ceasefire began, calling this a violation of the truce. Both Syrian and Hezbollah authorities made no immediate comment after the incident.
Since the truce began on Wednesday, Israeli aircraft have repeatedly targeted Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, citing ceasefire violations. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah specifically addresses the hostilities between them without covering the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
An Israeli airstrike on a car in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed five people, including World Central Kitchen (WCK) staff. The organization stated that it was ‘urgently seeking more details’ after the Israeli military claimed to have targeted a WCK worker allegedly involved in the Hamas attack that sparked the conflict.
Related Posts
However, WCK denied the allegations, asserting that the worker had been involved in their humanitarian efforts. Both the organization and the family of the deceased rejected Israel’s claims.
The Israeli military, in a statement, said the alleged Oct. 7 attacker took part in the assault on the kibbutz of Nir Oz, and it asked “senior officials from the international community” and the WCK to clarify how he had come to work for the charity. The family of the man named by Israel, Ahed Azmi Qdeih, rejected the allegations as “false accusations,” and confirmed in a statement he had worked with the charity. Israel named him as Hazmi Kadih.
An eyewitness reported that two rescue workers were killed in a second strike while trying to recover the bodies of earlier victims. Among the dead was Azem Abu Daqa, identified as having run one of the charity’s kitchens.
The IDF conducted strikes in southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah operatives involved in cross-border attacks against Israel, according to local media reports. The IDF continues to take action against Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, citing ongoing threats and violations of the ceasefire agreement. The IDF acted during the day following several operations in Lebanon that posed a threat to the State of Israel in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
As part of these operations, fighters from the paratrooper brigade identified several armed terrorists near a local church, which was identified as being used by Hezbollah operatives for military activities in southern Lebanon. The forces fired at the terrorists and killed them.
The terrorists who were eliminated were active in the ground defence, anti-aircraft and artillery formations in the sector, and took part in the fighting while using the church. After the terrorists were eliminated, the forces searched the area of the church during the day and located a shaft with weapons inside.
