Latest Developments
Hezbollah in Breach of Ceasefire, IDF Asserts: The IDF accused the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah of attempting to rebuild its armed capabilities south of the Litani River, in violation of November 2024’s ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said on November 11 that Hezbollah was operating in southern Lebanon while actively smuggling weapons from Syria. Following his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House this week, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa claimed that his regime had already taken action against Hezbollah, saying, “Israel has always said it has concerns about Syria because it is afraid of the threats that the Iranian militias and Hezbollah represent. We are the ones who expelled those forces out of Syria.”
IDF Presses Lebanon To Do More Against Hezbollah: In recent weeks, the IDF has reportedly urged the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to search private residences in southern Lebanon to locate Hezbollah weapons caches, a measure the LAF has not undertaken until now. Israel’s requests reportedly came during meetings in October of the ceasefire “Mechanism,” the U.S.-led committee facilitating the implementation of the truce. One unnamed Lebanese official said that Israel was “demanding that we do house-to-house searches, and we won’t do that … we aren’t going to do things their way.”
Hezbollah Leader Condemns IDF Strikes: Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem warned on October 11 that the terrorist organization would no longer tolerate ongoing IDF airstrikes in Lebanon. “Israeli attacks cannot continue; everything has a limit,” he stated while vowing that Hezbollah would “not give up” its weapons. Qassem attempted to frame the LAF’s deployment south of the Litani River as a positive development for Lebanon. “We are winners with the Lebanese army’s presence south of the Litani because they are our sons,” he asserted.
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