The ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel is fragile. Will it hold? On Friday, April 17, the Lebanese army accused Israel of committing “acts of aggression” and bombings, as reported by Le Monde. This is in violation of the ceasefire that went into effect between the two countries at midnight. Hezbollah, on the other hand, stated that they attacked Israeli soldiers in retaliation.
According to the Lebanese army, speaking on the social network X, “a number of violations of the agreement, several Israeli acts of aggression have been documented, not to mention the sporadic bombings that have hit several villages.” In retaliation, Hezbollah “bombarded a gathering of Israeli soldiers near the town of Khiam” in southern Lebanon. “I hope that Hezbollah will behave well during this important period. It will be a GREAT moment for them if they do that. Enough killing. We must finally have PEACE,” Donald Trump previously stated on his Truth Social platform.
The ceasefire began at midnight local time between the two countries. It follows a month and a half of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The pro-Iranian Islamist movement had joined the war in the Middle East by launching rockets into Israeli territory. This was in solidarity with Iran, which was attacked starting on February 28 by the United States and Israel.
On Thursday, welcoming the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on “all actors” to fully respect it, according to statements made by his spokesperson in a press release. “The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement of a ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon” as well as the role of the United States in achieving it, and “hopes that this ceasefire will pave the way for negotiations,” specified Stéphane Dujarric in a press release.
