Lebanese, Israeli ceasefire at risk following cross-border rocket exchanges

• A truce between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah is at risk of falling apart after a series of rocket strikes targeted the Israeli border town of Metula on Saturday. However, Hezbollah has denied any connection to the attack, saying it remains committed to Lebanon’s ceasefire agreement with Israel.
• In response to the rocket fire, Israel launched a counteroffensive that killed two and wounded eight.
• The latest breakdown comes after Israel effectively abandoned its other ceasefire agreement with Hamas when it launched overnight airstrikes earlier this week, killing 400 people.

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A truce between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah is at risk of falling apart after Israel said Saturday, March 22, that it had intercepted rockets fired into its territory and retaliated in kind. However, Hezbollah said it stands by Lebanon’s ceasefire with the Israeli military, and that it had “no link” to the rockets that were fired across the border.

Hezbollah said that Israel blaming it for the airstrikes is “merely pretexts to justify its ongoing aggression against Lebanon, which has not stopped since the announcement of the ceasefire.”

Israel said it is still looking into who was behind the six rockets, as no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Three of those were intercepted as they entered Israeli airspace. According to Lebanon’s news agency NAA, two people were killed and eight wounded when Israel launched its counteroffensive Saturday.

The state of Israeli ceasefire agreements

Israel has been involved in two ceasefire agreements since the start of its war in Gaza, which kicked off shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. One of those ceasefire agreements is with Hamas itself and came to fruition in January, while the other, brokered in November, is with Lebanon and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally. Hezbollah began attacking Israel with rockets and artillery on Oct. 8, 2023.

Israel effectively abandoned its ceasefire with Hamas when it launched overnight airstrikes into Gaza Tuesday, March 18, killing 400 people. In the days since, Israel has killed nearly 200 more, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.  

Israel and Lebanon’s prime ministers speak out

Saturday’s rocket launches, fired from a Lebanese district that sits roughly four miles from the northern Israeli town of Metula, marked the second cross-border attack from the Lebanese side since the November ceasefire was signed. Israeli artillery reportedly targeted the Lebanese village of Yohmor and the al-Hamames hills, across the border from Metula. Israel has also launched hundreds of airstrikes into Lebanon throughout the ceasefire.

In a statement following the attempted airstrikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to “act forcefully against dozens of terror targets in Lebanon,” while Israel’s military separately claimed to have hit dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers and one of the group’s command outposts.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reiterated that his government, rather than Hezbollah, is in control of the situation, saying, “All security and military measures must be taken to show that Lebanon decides on matters of war and peace.”

Terms of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon called for the removal of all weapons owned and operated by Hezbollah in the country’s south, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli ground troops and the deployment of Lebanese forces. However, each side has accused the other of failing to uphold its end of the agreement.

Responding to Saturday’s aggressions, the United Nations Lebanon branch, UNIFIL, released a statement saying, “Any further escalation of this volatile situation could have serious consequences for the region.”