The Israeli military on Saturday confirmed carrying out several strikes in southern Lebanon over the previous day against Hezbollah operatives who “violated the ceasefire understandings,” in the first such action since the truce took effect at midnight between Thursday and Friday.

The announcement of the strikes came a day after US President Donald Trump said that Israel was “prohibited” from bombing Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, though a US official later clarified to The Times of Israel that while IDF can not carry out any offensive military operations, the terms of the truce allow it to carry out defensive strikes against “planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”

The military also said that it would continue to clear the area currently under its control of Hezbollah infrastructure, operatives, and any other threats. The IDF assessed on Friday that a small number of Hezbollah operatives remain holed up in Bint Jbeil, after more than 100 were killed during fighting in the town over the past weeks. They would be given the opportunity to surrender, a military official said.

Regarding the recent strikes, the IDF said that troops operating south of the “Yellow Line” in southern Lebanon “identified terrorists who violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces from north of the Yellow Line in a manner that posed an immediate threat.”

The IDF said that the Israeli Air Force and ground troops “struck terrorists in several areas in southern Lebanon” to “remove the threat.”

In one incident on Friday, a Hezbollah operative traveling on a motorcycle between the southern Lebanon towns of Kounine and Beit Yahoun, just north of Bint Jbeil, was killed in a drone strike, according to the military and Lebanese media.

On Saturday, the IDF said troops of the 401st Armored Brigade identified “a cell of terrorists that violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat, during their activity in southern Lebanon, south of the forward defense line area used to prevent a direct threat to northern communities.”

To “remove the threat,” the Israeli Air Force struck and “eliminated the terrorists,” the IDF said.

In another incident on Saturday, south of the “forward defense line,” also dubbed the Yellow Line, the army said that it struck a Hezbollah tunnel shaft after identifying members of the terror group entering it.

The Yellow Line in........

© The Times of Israel