Border skirmishes test Lebanon ceasefire

Hezbollah claims an attack on Israel as ceasefire violations escalate.

CAIRO/BEIRUT:

Hezbollah on Monday claimed an attack on an Israeli position, its first since a fragile ceasefire in the war in Lebanon took effect last week.

The Israeli military said it was currently striking "terror" targets in Lebanon amid mutual accusations of ceasefire violations between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

The ceasefire, which came into force on Wednesday, seeks to end a war that has killed thousands in Lebanon and sparked mass displacements in both Lebanon and Israel.

While the ceasefire had largely brought fighting to a halt, Israel has launched strikes against targets it says were violating the truce.

Earlier Monday, Lebanon accused Israel of violating the truce, though Israel hit back to insist it was enforcing the agreement by responding to the group's violations.

"The aggressive actions carried out by Israeli occupation forces... represent a flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement," said Lebanon's powerful parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who helped mediate the truce on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

On Monday, Hezbollah claimed for the first time since the truce began an attack on an Israeli position in Kfar Shouba, which is located in a disputed territory on the Lebanon-Israel border.

The Israeli army said that Hezbollah launched two projectiles Monday towards the area of Har Dov, Israel's term for the disputed Shebaa Farms. Also Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told Saar in a call of "the need for all sides to respect the ceasefire in Lebanon", the foreign ministry said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected accusations that Israel had violated the truce.

"We hear claims that Israel is violating the ceasefire understandings in Lebanon. On the contrary! Israel is enforcing them in response to Hezbollah's violations, which demand immediate action," Saar said in a statement