Israel’s air force struck infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley area of Lebanon on Friday that was being used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Hezbollah, the IDF announced.
The strikes took place near the Yanta Crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
The IDF noted the strikes were part of its attempts to “prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing weapons smuggling routes.”
The Syria-Lebanon smuggling operations are coordinated by Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which works to facilitate the transfer of weapons from Iran into Lebanon, the military added.
This comes after Lebanese media outlets reported on Israeli strikes in the Bekaa Valley region of Lebanon on Friday. The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar added that echoes were heard across the valley.
These are the second reported attacks on the region since a ceasefire was reached between Hezbollah and Israel in November, Israeli public broadcaster KAN News noted.
On Thursday, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, claimed that Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement.
Violation of 1701
The recent US-brokered ceasefire agreement called for an IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon along with a Hezbollah withdrawal north of the Litani River, upholding the 2006 UNSC Resolution 1701, which ended the previous Israel-Lebanon conflict.
“There is concern at continuing destruction by the IDF in residential areas, agricultural land, and road networks in south Lebanon, UNIFIL wrote. “This is in violation of resolution 1701.”
The IDF, however, disputes the charge and has reported a number of instances of Hezbollah members operating in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
On December 17, the IDF reported that it had identified a Hezbollah terrorist loading weaponry onto a vehicle “in violation of the ceasefire agreements between Israel and Lebanon.”
The IAF subsequently struck the vehicle.
“The IDF is operating in accordance with the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military said at the time. “The IDF remains deployed in southern Lebanon and will operate against any threat posed to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Additionally, other terror elements, aside from Hezbollah, have been identified recently in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
Last week, Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet Al Mayadeen reported that the Lebanese Armed Forces took control of a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine command site in the Bekaa Valley’s Sultan Yacoub.
Reuters contributed to this report.
