Hezbollah and Israel Trade Fire, Further Testing Cease-Fire

Hezbollah fired at northern Israel on Monday for the first time since a cease-fire was reached last week, prompting Israel to launch a wave of airstrikes in Lebanon, as each side blamed the other for violating the tenuous truce.Hezbollah said it had fired into Israeli territory, and the Israeli military said two Hezbollah projectiles fell in open areas without causing casualties.They hit a strip of land called Shebaa Farms — Har Dov to Israelis — that was seized by Israel in the 1967 war, but is claimed by both Israel and Lebanon.The Lebanese armed group said its launches were prompted by “repeated violations of the agreement by the Israeli enemy,” describing it as “an initial defensive response that serves as a warning.”Since the cease-fire agreement was announced last week, the Israeli military has repeatedly bombarded Lebanon in attacks it says target Hezbollah militants breaching the cease-fire.

The truce — mediated by the United States and France — ended more than a year of fighting.At least for now, the agreement has mostly held.Neither side appears eager to return to the war, which killed nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon and 100 Israelis, displaced over one million Lebanese and turned Israeli border communities into ghost towns.But the emerging tit-for-tat places Israel in a quandary.

Israeli officials hope the truce lasts so they can refocus their efforts on the war in Gaza and their regional archenemy, Iran.But they fear Hezbollah will exploit the cease-fire to slowly rebuild its forces near the border with Israel in contravention of the agreement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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