Israel and Hezbollah have increased their attacks on each other in recent days, despite a ceasefire officially in place.
The ceasefire in Lebanon that started on April 16 is increasingly coming under strain, with both Israel and Hezbollah ramping up attacks against each other.
The ceasefire began after six weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. But the following day, Lebanon’s army reported several violations by Israeli forces. Since then, both Israel and Hezbollah have continued attacks.
Is even the pretence of a ceasefire over? What could happen?
Since Israel began its war on Lebanon on March 2, at least 2,846 people have been killed and more than a million displaced.
Israel’s offensive has included a major ground invasion and the occupation of southern Lebanon. On Sunday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Israeli attacks across the country had killed 51 people, including two medical workers.
“The Israeli enemy continues to violate international laws and humanitarian norms, adding more crimes against paramedics, as it directly targeted two points of the Health Authority in Qalawiya and Tibnin, Bint Jbeil district, in two raids,” the ministry said.
Since Israel’s war on Lebanon began on March 2, the United Nations says at least 103 Lebanese medical workers have been killed and 230 injured in more than 130 Israeli strikes.
“We’re under threat every second, every day,” Ali Safiuddin, the head of the Lebanese Civil Defence in Tyre in southern Lebanon, told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “We ask ourselves if we’re going to survive or if we’re going to die, we know we’ve already given up our lives by working here. We’ve lost so many people and it feels like we’re already gone as well.”
Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Tyre, said on Sunday that “international humanitarian laws are clear: medical personnel and first responders, like the Lebanese Civil Defence, must be protected in armed conflict, but on this front line, the question isn’t whether another strike is coming. It’s how many people will be left to answer the calls for help”.
Dr Tahir Mohammed, a war surgeon, and humanitarian worker who’s worked in both Gaza and Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that he saw parallels in Israeli actions in both places.
“We used to see our colleagues in Gaza come through the door all the time. I’ve had colleagues, nurses, medical students killed by Israeli weapons, and so to see the same policy of targeting healthcare workers in Lebanon … it’s consistent,” he said.
“If Israel had their way, they would absolutely occupy the entire southern region of Lebanon, and they would do it tomorrow. They have no care for life. I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Mohammed added.
An Israeli air strike on the town of Abba killed two people and wounded five, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said. Warplanes renewed their raids on the town of Kfar Remman for the second time in less than an hour, NNA added.
The Israeli military issued a new warning for southern Lebanon, telling residents of nine areas to flee before potential Israeli strikes. The areas are: Ar-Rihan (Jezzine), Jarjouaa, Kfar Reman, al-Numairiyah, Arab Salim, al-Jumayjimah, Machghara, Qlayaa (Western Bekaa) and Harouf.
Israel has repeatedly said that it is only targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, which is primarily in the south of Lebanon. But last week, Israel also bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time since the ceasefire began.
The Lebanese armed group has continued striking Israeli forces.
Early on Monday, Hezbollah said it carried out 24 attacks targeting Israeli army positions, soldiers and military vehicles in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours.
Targets included Israeli troop gatherings, Merkava tanks, bulldozers, military equipment and newly established command centres in several border areas, including Khiam, Deir Seryan, Tayr Harfa, Bayyada, Rashaf and Naqoura.
Operations involved explosive drones, rocket barrages, artillery shelling and guided missiles, with Hezbollah claiming “confirmed hits” in several attacks.
The Israeli military said it had intercepted “a suspicious aerial target” in southern Lebanon in an apparent reference to a drone launched by Hezbollah.
The Jerusalem Post said the Israeli military is struggling to respond to First Person View (FPV) drones launched by Hezbollah.
The newspaper said Hezbollah is using fibre optic threads to guide the drones and evade Israeli wireless jamming devices.
The Jerusalem Post noted that Hezbollah had released video of an FPV drone striking an Iron Dome battery on the northern border on Sunday.
During its visit to southern Lebanon last week, senior Israeli officials “outlined several new pilot programmes to better identify and shoot down FPVs”, but added that the “military is still trying to catch up in real time”.
On Monday, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted an Israeli military position in a house in Baydar al-Faqani in the town of Taybeh, forcing a retreat. Fighters attacked the position three times until an Israeli helicopter intervened to evacuate the wounded, the group said.
The Israeli army has not yet commented on the attack, but said three soldiers were injured by a booby-trap drone explosion in southern Lebanon.
The army earlier announced that a soldier was killed by a drone launched by Hezbollah near the Lebanese border.
In theory, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah does exist, but both warring parties have escalated attacks since it began.
The ceasefire followed a previous one, which had ostensibly been in effect since November 27, 2024. Since then, the United Nations counted more than 10,000 Israeli ceasefire violations and hundreds of Lebanese deaths.
“I don’t think the pretence of a truce was ever actually there, but I think Israel can continue [attacks] just as it can sign a peace agreement,” Israeli analyst Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera.
“Israel doesn’t really care and will do as it is told. So far, the IDF [Israeli army] wants a win and a chance to apply its might, but that can change in a heartbeat,” he said.
Israel has repeatedly told the Lebanese government that Hezbollah must be disarmed for any ceasefire to last.
Hezbollah has long been considered the strongest military force in Lebanon, though it has been weakened by the war with Israel, and the killing of most of its leaders. Despite that, it retains the support of Lebanon’s Shia community, from which it emerged.
Hezbollah has said that Israel needs to withdraw from southern Lebanon, which was part of the ceasefire deal agreed in 2024. Fighting flared in October 2023 after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. At least 3,768 Lebanese were killed and 1.2 million displaced in Israeli attacks then.
Government leaders in Beirut have long been uneasy about Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon. Last December, the government said it was close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River before a year-end deadline as part of the 2024 ceasefire deal with Israel.
At the start of the latest conflict, the Lebanese government outlawed Hezbollah’s military wing.
But in January, Israel said Hezbollah still had a presence close to the border and was rebuilding its military capabilities “faster than the [Lebanese] army is dismantling [them]”.
“What will happen between Israel and Lebanon depends on the US and the EU. If they force Israel’s hand, even peace can happen,” Goldberg said.
“More likely Israel will continue to bomb as negotiations continue, but it will be forced to stop occasionally,” he added.
The US State Department is planning two days of intensive talks between the governments of Israel and Lebanon on May 14 and 15.
“The negotiations in Washington, DC will advance “a comprehensive peace and security agreement that substantively addresses the core concerns of both countries”, the department said.
On May 8, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun received former Ambassado
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