Ceasefire deal in Lebanon appears to be holding
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have faltered. But the U.S.- and France-brokered deal for Lebanon appears to be holding since Wednesday.
On Saturday, Israel’s military said that it struck sites used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon after the ceasefire took effect. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or Hezbollah. Israeli aircraft have struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon several times, citing truce violations.
Israel’s strike in Syria came as insurgents breached its largest city, Aleppo, bringing fresh uncertainty to the region.
The truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire in which the terrorist group should withdraw north of Lebanon’s Litani River and Israeli forces should return to their side of the border.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone strike on Rub Thalatheen village killed two people and wounded two others, and another hit a car in Majdal Zoun village. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three were wounded.
Israel’s military said it had been operating to distance “suspects” in the region, without elaborating. Israel says it reserves the right to strike against any perceived violations.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike on a car in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed five people, including employees of World Central Kitchen. The charity said it was “urgently seeking more details” after Israel’s military said it targeted a WCK worker who was part of the Hamas terrorist attack that sparked the war.
WCK said it had no knowledge anyone in the car had alleged ties to the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, adding it was “working with incomplete information.” It said it was pausing operations in Gaza. It had suspended work earlier this year after an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers.
The Israeli military in a statement said the alleged Oct. 7 attacker took part in the assault on the kibbutz of Nir Oz, and it asked “senior officials from the international community” and the WCK to clarify how he had come to work for the charity.
On Saturday, Hamas released a video of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander speaking under duress
Netanyahu’s office said that he spoke with Alexander’s family after the release of the video.
“(Netanyahu) reassured me and promised that now, after reaching an arrangement in Lebanon, conditions are right to free you all and bring you home,” Alexander’s mother, Yael, told demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.
