Situation at a glance: Israel warns Hezbollah against ceasefire violations

While Israel’s army is vigorously warning the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon against ceasefire violations, it is continuing the war in the Gaza Strip against the Islamist Hamas. On the first day after the ceasefire came into force, Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon arrested suspects who had approached restricted areas where Israeli troops were still stationed there, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in the evening. In addition, several “terrorists” were killed.

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

Skepticism after the ceasefire began

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

In the future, security in the south will be provided by the comparatively weak Lebanese army, whose contingent is to be increased from 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers in the border area. However, after the last war in 2006, it failed to enforce agreements to end hostilities. There are therefore doubts about their assertiveness this time too.

Before the agreement came into force on Wednesday night, Israel’s army attacked around 180 Hezbollah positions, said army spokesman Hagari. This includes an underground facility for rocket production that is around one and a half kilometers long. According to the Israeli army, this was the largest facility for the production of precision missiles for 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 has come to an end for the time being. For the Palestinian civilians in the embattled Gaza Strip, however, there is still no sign of an end to the suffering. There, Israel’s army continues to take action against the Islamist Hamas.

Medical circles and Palestinian media reported additional deaths in Israeli attacks in the city of Gaza and the city 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 area.

Hostage relatives demand Gaza deal

Hamas still has around 100 hostages in its control who were kidnapped from Israel to the Gaza Strip after the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. “We are determined to bring her home,” Hagari said. It is estimated that only about half of those abducted are still alive.

Relatives of the hostages temporarily blocked the entrance to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parliamentary office on Wednesday, according to Israeli media reports. They are demanding that he enter into a deal with Hamas as he did with Hezbollah in Lebanon. “If you want, you can. Please, we beg you with all our hearts,” a relative was quoted as saying. Critics accuse Netanyahu of effectively giving up on the hostages.

Egyptian security circles said the US was in contact with Egypt, Turkey and Qatar to reach an agreement to end the Gaza war. Hamas confirmed its fundamental willingness to end the fighting. A representative of the Islamists also told the German Press Agency that they insisted 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 kidnapped around 250 as hostages to Gaza. Shortly thereafter, Israel began a ground offensive to destroy Hamas. Since then, more than 44,200 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to Hamas-controlled authorities. The number does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and is difficult to verify.

Hamas insists on its terms

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