Lebanese soldiers carry the coffin of Sergeant Abdul Karim al-Mekdad in Chmistar, Lebanon, Dec. 6, 2023. Mekdad was killed by Israeli shelling on Dec. 5 in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
BEIRUT — The Israeli army has repeatedly attacked the Lebanese Army over the past two months, prompting alarm in the Biden administration and sharp rebukes from top US officials to Israeli leadership, CNN reported on Friday.
This comes at a time when Hezbollah and Israel continue to exchange increasingly heavier fire on a daily basis, after cross-border hostilities broke out a day after the start of the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza on Oct. 7. A fragile one-week truce held from Nov. 24 until Nov. 30, before fighting resumed.
Although Israel has struck Lebanese Army positions several times, the latter has not yet retaliated to these attacks. An Israeli attack on the Lebanese Army killed one soldier on Dec. 5, marking the first military casualty in Lebanon since the start of the conflict.
Strikes are unacceptable
The Israelis have struck Lebanese Army positions more than 34 times since Oct. 7, including with small arms and artillery fire, drones and helicopters, according to US officials, a regional security source and a list of the incidents compiled by the US and reviewed by CNN.
Officials said the Biden administration has told Israel that the strikes are unacceptable, according to CNN. One senior US official said that the US believes at least some of those strikes have been accidental, intended instead for Hezbollah, which operates along the Lebanon-Israel border and has been targeting and hitting Israeli military positions since Oct. 8. But the intention of other strikes has been less clear, the official said, and more junior Israeli troops may not be exercising enough restraint.
“The IDF’s [Israeli army's] continued pattern of strikes against LAF [Lebanese Army] positions are concerning and irresponsible. The LAF is a critical and independent force that successive US administrations have supported in recognition of its important role in stability in Lebanon,” CNN cites a senior congressional aide as saying. “Many members of Congress share the administration’s strong concerns with such actions.”
As the pace of the strikes escalated, administration officials made clear to Israeli leadership that they need to be more careful, US officials reportedly told CNN.
Concerned about war expansion
The US is also deeply concerned that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could expand to the north, and US officials have been working with Israel and Lebanon to try to contain the war.
During an unannounced visit to Beirut on Nov. 7, US envoy Amos Hochstein called for a "return to calm" on the southern Lebanese border.
CNN reports a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council as saying, “The United States has been clear we do not want to see this conflict spread to Lebanon and we continue to urge the Israelis do all they can to be targeted and avoid civilians, civilian infrastructure, civilian farmland, the UN, and the Lebanese Armed Forces.”
Israeli army's comments
A spokesperson for the Israeli army told CNN on Friday that any harm caused “to other forces is unintentional.”
“In response to Hezbollah’s aggression, the IDF strikes the terrorist organization’s military infrastructure and works to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel,” Israeli army spokesperson Nir Dinar said.
“Any harm to civilians and other forces is unintentional. Such incidents are reviewed in order to improve operational precautions and to ensure accountability when necessary,” Dinar added.
According to CNN, US officials believe Israel’s attacks on the Lebanese military have resulted in at least eight injuries and one death since Oct. 7.