Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on December 2 that Hezbollah had carried out an attack in the area of Mount Dov in northern Israel. Netanyahu said that Hezbollah’s attack, which consisted of mortar fire, “constitutes a severe violation of the ceasefire, and Israel will respond forcefully.” Israel has asserted since the agreement began on November 27 that any Hezbollah violations would be met with force. Israel and Lebanon signed the ceasefire, but Hezbollah is expected to abide by it. The IDF said it carried out airstrikes on the evening of December 2 in response to the Hezbollah attack.
Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack on Mount Dov. Hezbollah views this area as part of Lebanon and considers it a disputed area. Hezbollah’s mortar fire came after the US and France expressed concern that Israel was violating the ceasefire. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on December 2 that he spoke with France’s foreign minister. “I emphasized that Israel is not violating the ceasefire understandings but rather enforcing them in response to Hezbollah’s violations. The presence of Hezbollah operatives south of the Litani is a fundamental violation of the agreement, and they must move north. Israel is committed to the successful implementation of the ceasefire understandings and will not return to the reality of October 6, 2023,” Sa’ar said.
The clashes with Hezbollah on December 2 happened after daily incidents in Lebanon in which Israel accused the Iranian-backed group of violating the ceasefire. For instance, on November 28, the IDF said it had identified several suspects in vehicles in southern Lebanon who were “breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” The IDF fired on the suspects. In another incident, the Israeli Air Force struck a site it said Hezbollah was using to store medium-range rockets. “The IDF remains in southern Lebanon and will actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement,” the Israeli military said.
The next day, November 29, the commanding officer of the IDF’s 91st Galilee Division, Brigadier General Shai Klapper, visited southern Lebanon. It was one of several visits by Israeli commanders to troops in the field in the wake of the ceasefire. On the same day, the IDF struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in Lebanon. On November 30, the IDF hit a site on the Syria and Lebanon border that it said was used to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah. Israel has said it will prevent weapons being smuggled to Hezbollah so that the group can’t rearm after the ceasefire. More Israeli strikes followed, including on a vehicle loaded with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), on a vehicle moving near a rocket manufacturing site, and on Hezbollah rocket launchers.
On December 1, the Israeli military said it monitored “several armed terrorists adjacent to a church in southern Lebanon that was actively used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization. The [Israeli] troops fired toward the terrorists and eliminated them.” This incident happened near the Lebanese village of Khiam, likely in response to Hezbollah mortar fire into the Mount Dov area.
Hezbollah has faced several crises in the wake of the conflict with Israel, and the group is holding funerals for its fallen members, including many commanders. In addition, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, backed by Iran and a Hezbollah ally, has faced setbacks in Syria as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a military group in Idlib, took over Aleppo and forced regime forces to flee. In the past, Hezbollah fighters have served in Syria to fight alongside the Assad regime, including in the area of Aleppo. As such, Hezbollah faced not only Israeli airstrikes between November 28 and December 1 but also losses to its influence and allies in Syria.
Israeli officials have repeatedly stressed that Israel will strike Hezbollah if it violates the ceasefire, which Israel says the Iranian-backed group has already done numerous times. “We will respond decisively to Hezbollah’s severe violation of the ceasefire—and will continue to do so,” IDF Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said on December 2. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said that Israel would respond. “What was will not be,” Katz said, referring to the period before Israel’s Operation Northern Arrows. Israeli political leaders from across the political spectrum also supported the strikes on Hezbollah in various posts on social media.
