Both Israel and Hezbollah are accused of violating the cease-fire agreement

Israel’s military and Iran-allied Hezbollah were both accused of violating the peace deal on Thursday, a day after the fragile deal went into effect.

Netanyahu told Channel 14 on Thursday that he had ordered the military to prepare for a “hard battle” if the ceasefire was violated, without specifying what a violation would entail.

Since the ceasefire began on Wednesday morning, large-scale operations between Israel and Hezbollah have ground to a halt.

However, the Israeli military has reported more incidents since then and says it is taking action against Hezbollah fighters in violation of the agreement.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese army also accuses the Israeli army of violating the agreement.

Israel “violated the agreement several times by violating the air and targeting Lebanese territory with various weapons,” said a statement on the X social media platform.

The Lebanese army, which has a major role in overseeing the deal, is not a party to the Hezbollah-Israel conflict.

In another incident, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a plane attacked a Hezbollah weapons depot after “terrorist activity was identified in an area used by Hezbollah to store medium-range rockets.”

According to Israeli media reports, it was the second Israeli airstrike in Lebanon since the ceasefire began.

An Israeli military official commented on these incidents, describing them as “isolated incidents” typical of the early days or days following the signing of the deal.

The bitterly negotiated agreement stipulates that Hezbollah must withdraw behind the Litani River, about 30 kilometers north of the border with Israel, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

This resolution marked the end of the last war in Lebanon in 2006 but was never fully implemented.

Israeli ground forces will gradually withdraw from Lebanon over the next 60 days, but the IDF says it is still taking action against Hezbollah members who violate the agreement.

Earlier, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported that at least two people were injured when Israeli forces opened fire on villages near the border in southeastern Lebanon.

In a statement, the IDF said that a number of suspected Hezbollah fighters arrived in vehicles in different areas in southern Lebanon, violating the terms of the agreement.

The IDF also announced another nightly curfew in southern Lebanon, with a spokesman saying access to border areas south of the Litani River was restricted between 5pm (1500 GMT) on Thursday and 7am on Friday.

“To be safe, you must follow these instructions,” said a spokesman at the X post. The military announced a similar curfew on Wednesday evening.

Iran calls the ceasefire a ‘shameful defeat’ for Israel

The 60-day ceasefire is designed to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah that began more than a year ago after the October 7, 2023 attack.

The agreement was welcomed around the world, especially in Lebanon where hundreds of thousands were left homeless and thousands were killed in the fighting that followed Israel’s ground attack in late September.

As well as suffering in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah lost a number of senior leaders in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

In a letter written Thursday by Nasrallah’s successor Naim Qassem, however, the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the ceasefire was a “victory for Hezbollah” and a “strategic and humiliating defeat” for Israel.