More airstrikes

Israel carries out more airstrikes deep inside Lebanon, state media say

By  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Israeli warplanes carried three airstrikes deep into eastern Lebanon on Friday for the second time since a ceasefire ended the war between Hezbollah and Israel a month ago, Lebanon’s state-run news agency said.

No casualties were reported in the strikes on the Bekaa Valley town of Qousaya and the target remained unclear. The Israeli military said its air force struck “infrastructure used to smuggle weapons via Syria” to Hezbollah near the Janta crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border, about 9 kilometers (5 miles) north of Qousaya. Israel accused Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 of overseeing smuggling operations from Iran through Syria, adding that it had killed the unit’s commander in early October.

Since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27, the Israeli army has conducted near-daily operations in southern Lebanon, including shootings, house demolitions, excavations, tank shelling and airstrikes. These actions have killed at least 27 people, wounded more than 30 and destroyed residential buildings, including a mosque.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, said it has observed “concerning actions” by Israeli forces, including the destruction of homes and road closures.

On Thursday, the Lebanese army accused Israeli troops of breaching the ceasefire by encroaching into southern Lebanon. Israeli bulldozers erected dirt barricades to block roads in Wadi Al-Hujayr.

The Lebanese army later on Thursday said that following intervention by the ceasefire supervision committee, Israeli forces withdrew, and Lebanese soldiers removed the barriers to reopen the road in the area.

The U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which ended the 14-month war, demands that Hezbollah and Israeli forces withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days, allowing Lebanese troops to gradually deploy south of the Litani River.