Israel threatens to ‘respond with force’ after Hezbollah fires towards IDF in ‘ceasefire violation’

Israel’s prime minister says he will “respond with force” after Hezbollah fired towards an Israeli military post in disputed territory in Lebanon.

Two projectiles fell in open areas and no injuries were reported.

Israel said they had been launched toward Mount Dov, a disputed Israeli-held territory known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel meet.

Hezbollah said it fired projectiles as a “defensive and warning response” after what it called “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal by Israel. The attack was Hezbollah’s first since the ceasefire was enacted last week.

It said complaints to mediators tasked with monitoring the ceasefire “were futile in stopping these violations”.

Lebanon has also accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days, including for the alleged demolition of homes in border villages, the persistent overflight of Israeli reconnaissance drones, and airstrikes that have caused casualties.

The incident was “a serious violation” of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Israel will respond to it with force,” he said.

“We are determined to continue enforcing the ceasefire and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah, whether minor or severe.”

Meanwhile, Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz promised “a harsh response”.

“What was, will no longer be,” he said.

It comes as the US defence department said the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel was mostly holding.

Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said: “Broadly speaking, it is our assessment that despite some of these incidents that we are seeing, the ceasefire is holding,”

The US and French-brokered ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday. It called for a 60-day halt in fighting, aiming to end more than a year of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Since then, Israel has carried out several strikes in Lebanon, most recently on Monday, when a drone strike killed a man on a motorcycle in southern Lebanon and another hit a Lebanese army bulldozer in the northeastern town of Hermel, wounding a soldier.

The US and France are tasked with monitoring compliance with the accord. Israel says that it reserves the right under the truce to respond to perceived ceasefire violations.

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