Israeli forces struck sites in southern Lebanon on Saturday that it said were linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, hours after rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel for the first time in months.
The attacks were the latest example of how the renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza was rippling across the Middle East. They also disrupted months of relative calm in northern Israel, where residents displaced by more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have begun returning home.
The Israeli military said that it had shot down three rockets from Lebanon, and there were no reports of casualties. The volley was the first of its kind since last November, when Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire brokered by the United States and France.
Hezbollah denied any involvement in the rocket fire, which followed Israel’s resumed offensive in Gaza this week against the Lebanese group’s Palestinian ally Hamas. Those Israeli attacks have already killed more than 600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
After the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the Gaza war, the militant group’s allies across the Middle East began attacking Israel in solidarity. Last year, that escalated to a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah, in which Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s leadership and launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.
Under the terms of the cease-fire, the Lebanese government is supposed to prevent armed groups like Hezbollah from attacking Israel from Lebanon.
Lebanese leaders appeared eager to head off any new escalation with Israel. The recent conflict devastated Lebanon, killing about 4,000 people and leading more than a million to flee their homes, according to the country’s authorities.
After the rocket barrage, Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese president, condemned what he called “attempts to drag Lebanon back into a cycle of violence.” He called on the committee charged with overseeing the cease-fire — including representatives from the United States and France — to prevent “any violations” that could “threaten the country.”
On Saturday, the Lebanese Army said that it had located and dismantled rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold. The military is distinct from Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia which has long wielded enormous influence in Lebanon.
“Military units are continuing to take the necessary measures to control the situation in the south,” the Lebanese military said.
Israeli officials have expressed skepticism over whether the Lebanese military is up to the task.
Israel has continued to bombard Lebanon despite the truce, arguing that it is cracking down on militants violating the cease-fire. The truce requires the Lebanese government’s security forces to be the sole armed presence in southern Lebanon, but it is unclear to what extent Hezbollah has actually withdrawn its fighters and rocket arrays.
While the cease-fire initially stipulated a full Israeli withdrawal by late January, Israeli forces still control five points inside Lebanese territory. Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said that Israeli troops would remain there indefinitely to protect Israeli towns near the Lebanese border.
The resumed strikes in Gaza this week have brought attacks on Israel from at least one other Hamas ally.
That ally, the Houthi militia in Yemen — which, like Hamas and Hezbollah, is backed by Iran — has resumed firing ballistic missiles at Israel, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis rushing for fortified bomb shelters. Israel’s aerial defense systems have intercepted the missiles.
Israeli leaders have said that they launched the renewed attack in Gaza to pressure Hamas to free more of the dozens of remaining Israeli and foreign hostages in the enclave. Hamas has argued that Israel is tearing up the cease-fire deal.
Euan Ward and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed reporting.
