Following the same tactics deployed in war-battered Gaza, the Israeli army has established a so-called Yellow Line in south Lebanon, where it has started destroying villages and homes, despite a 10-day truce in place.
Israeli Army Radio on Friday night confirmed reports that the Yellow Line is up to 10 kilometres from the border, raising concerns that the demarcation can be used as justification by the Israeli military to target anyone who nears it.
A statement from the Israeli military on Saturday stated: “Over the past 24 hours, IDF forces 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.”
“Immediately after identification and in order to eliminate the threat … forces attacked the terrorists in several areas in southern Lebanon,” the statement continued.
The Israeli military referred to the terms of the 10-day ceasefire agreed on 16 April, which states that Israel can take “self-defence” measures at any time.
However, in Gaza, where the Israeli army has killed over 72,000 people since October 2023, the so-called Yellow Line has swallowed over half the territory, which has been transformed into a military operations zone stretching from northern Gaza to the centre of Rafah in the south.
Israeli forces regularly target and kill anyone who crosses or approaches the Yellow Line, including children.
Israel says that civilians are prohibited from returning to areas not considered to be within the Yellow Line, which includes at least 55 villages.
Israeli Army Radio also said that military operations will continue within the demarcation line amid the ceasefire.
Israeli army forces remain stationed in positions they previously occupied in Lebanon and will remain there throughout the duration of the truce.
The radio station quoted sources who said that “there is no intention to withdraw from the areas occupied so far”.
According to various reports in local Arabic media, the destruction of buildings within the Yellow Line in Lebanon is being done so under the pretext of “destroying Hezbollah infrastructure”.
The Israeli army claims that a number of Hezbollah fighters remain in the area and that they are monitoring the situation, warning them that they should surrender or be targeted.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel has not “yet finished the job” regarding Hezbollah, adding that it will continue “dismantling” the group.
Meanwhile, while Hezbollah has halted military operations after the truce came into effect, it said that it is keeping its “finger on the trigger” in case Israel violates the deal.
Civilians remain anxious about the ceasefire, particularly because on Saturday, Israel killed at least one person and wounded several others in a shelling campaign despite the ceasefire.
The attacks happened in the south of the country, where a motorcyclist was killed, and three others were wounded in shelling carried out by an Israeli drone on the town of Qounine in the Bint Jbeil district.
An ambulance team in the same town was also targeted by shelling and machine gun fire, resulting in some injuries.
The renewed Israeli strikes on Lebanon, which commenced on 2 March, have killed at least 2,294 people and displaced over 1 million.
