Lebanese president, Hezbollah urge response to Israeli incursions

Israel says its continued airstrikes and limited ground operations in Lebanon are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding its military presence. (AP pic)
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun instructed the army on Thursday to confront any Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border and killed a municipal employee, despite a US-brokered ceasefire.
Lebanon’s army has historically stayed on the sidelines of major conflicts with Israel, and has not confronted its military in recent months.
But in a sign of the strains on the ceasefire, Israeli warplanes flew over the presidential palace in Beirut, according to a witness, shortly after Aoun’s first order for the army to engage Israeli troops since he became president in January.
Lebanese rebel group Hezbollah, which fought Israel for more than a year after the Gaza war erupted in October, 2023, expressed support for the president’s call.
Israel has continued airstrikes and limited ground operations in Lebanese territory since the ceasefire. It says its actions are intended to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military presence in the south, while Lebanon accuses Israel of violating the truce.
Hezbollah’s pledge of support
On Wednesday morning, Israeli troops entered the border town of Blida and fired at the municipality building, killing a worker there, the Lebanese army said in a statement, calling it ‘a criminal act’ and a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
The Lebanese state news agency (NNA) identified the worker as Ibrahim Salameh, who had been sleeping there. It was not immediately clear whether Salameh had been deliberately targeted and if so, why he would be.
The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire in Blida after identifying “an immediate threat” during an operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure. The incident was under review, it added.
Aoun asked army commander General Rudolph Haykal “to have the Lebanese army confront any Israeli incursion into the liberated southern territories, in defence of Lebanese lands and the safety of citizens,” a statement from the presidency said.
Hezbollah, which Aoun has been urging to disarm under US pressure in line with the ceasefire deal, said it valued his orders and called for support for the army in confronting Israel. It did not specify from where the support would come.
“Hezbollah urges full support for the army with all available capabilities to enhance its defensive strength and provide it with the necessary political cover to confront this savage enemy,” the group said in a statement.
Hezbollah rejects the pressure for it to disarm.
Call on ceasefire monitoring to do more
After deploying to the site at 4am the Lebanese army found no military infrastructure in the building and saw pockmarks indicating Israeli troops had fired heavily from outside the building, the Lebanese security official said.
A senior Lebanese security official told Reuters Salameh’s body was found in his pyjamas in a pool of blood on the floor, with several gunshot wounds to his body.
Aoun condemned the attack as part of a pattern of Israeli aggression and said it was launched shortly after a meeting of an international ceasefire monitoring committee that is chaired by the US.
He urged the committee to go beyond recording violations and to press Israel to abide by the Nov 27, 2024, ceasefire agreement and halt its breaches of Lebanese sovereignty.
The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said it was seeking more information on the incident.
Israel had already dealt powerful blows to Hezbollah during the war, killing the group’s senior leaders.