A ceasefire began on Friday, April 17 at midnight (local time) between the two countries after a month and a half of conflict between Israel and the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement Hezbollah.
The Lebanese army accused Israel on Friday, April 17 of committing “acts of aggression” and bombardments in violation of the ceasefire that came into effect at midnight in the country (11 p.m. in Paris on Thursday).
Gunfire erupted in the southern suburbs of Beirut. AFP journalists heard the sound of intense gunfire from automatic weapons and RPG rockets bursting in the air shortly after midnight and continuing for over half an hour, while red tracers of bullets streaked across the sky.
On its X account, the army mentioned “a number of violations of the agreement, with several Israeli acts of aggression being recorded, not to mention sporadic bombings that hit several villages.”
The pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, on the other hand, announced that it had “bombarded a gathering of Israeli soldiers near the town of Khiam” in southern Lebanon in retaliation.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had agreed to a ten-day ceasefire. Both leaders confirmed accepting this temporary truce after over a month of open warfare between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, with Israel demanding its disarmament.
Exchanges of fire before the start of the ceasefire
Shortly before the ceasefire went into effect, the Israeli army and the Lebanese Islamist Hezbollah, allied with Iran, had already exchanged new cross-border fire. The Israeli army announced that it had struck Hezbollah rocket launchers after shots were fired at Israel, barely over an hour before the ceasefire took effect.
“The army is currently striking launchers from which Hezbollah recently fired rockets towards northern Israel,” a military statement released Thursday night at 10:56 p.m. Paris time, said.
Two people were injured, one seriously, following rocket fire in northern Israel, one in Carmiel and the other in Nahariya, according to the Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross.
Since then, no Israeli air strikes have been reported within an hour after the ceasefire took effect.
Return to the southern suburbs of Beirut
Following the ceasefire, people were seen returning to the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, according to AFPTV images. Some were waving the yellow flag of Hezbollah, while others carried portraits of its former leader, Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel in 2024.
Videos circulating on social media show lines of cars in various parts of the southern region as displaced persons returned home. Lebanese authorities estimate that the war has displaced over a million people.
The southern suburbs of Beirut, the stronghold of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, have been particularly affected by Israeli strikes since March 2, since the entry into war of the Islamist movement, a supporter of Iran.
