The United States has warned Israel that it is violating the terms of the cease-fire agreement with Lebanon. According to sources familiar with the details who spoke to Ynet, "there were Israeli violations of the cease-fire agreement, mainly the visible and audible return of Israeli drones in the skies over Beirut."
The same sources said that in order for the cease-fire to last, "we need restraint from all sides."
France first warned Israel that it was violating the cease-fire, first reported by Ynet on Sunday, but now the United States has joined these warnings as well. According to the sources, Amos Hochstein, who brokered the deal, accused Israel of the violations in a message to his counterparts in Jerusalem.
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US envoy Amos Hochstein warned his counterparts in Jerusalem that Israel is violating the cease-fire agreement in Lebanon
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky; Husseiin Malla/AP; Mohammed Yassin /Reuters; AFP)
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday morning told his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot that Israel was not violating the cease-fire agreement in Lebanon but enforcing it amid Hezbollah's violations, that require a real-time response. France claimed Israel had failed to report Hezbollah's violations to the international commission and had used lethal force resulting in the death of civilians.
"Hezbollah's presence south of the Litani is a fundamental violation of the agreement. They must move north," Saar said.
He called on the Lebanese government to “clearly authorize the Lebanese army to carry out the actions required of it under the agreement.”
Documentation from the church used by terrorists in Lebanon
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
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Meanwhile, the sources claim that France is fulfilling its role in implementing and monitoring the agreement. It is pressuring the Lebanese government to give a clear mandate to the Lebanese army and to postpone the return of displaced populations to southern Lebanon, and warning Hezbollah of violations, and a French staff was also announced to make operational the improved supervision mechanism, as opposed to UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Lebanon War.
Since Monday morning, the IDF has attacked at least three areas in southern Lebanon, mainly in the eastern sector, where Hezbollah operatives were detected carrying out suspicious movements. In at least one of the cases, in Marj Ayon, a hit was detected. The attacks were carried out as part of the IDF's enforcement of the cease-fire agreement. In addition, a warning shot was fired at Lebanese people who approached the area near the border.