An Israeli flag on the coast of southern Lebanon, at the entrance to Naqoura. (Photo circulating on social networks)
Two people were killed and one person injured in Taybeh (Marjayoun) during an Israeli drone strike near the village's public school, almost a month after the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent.
One of the victims was from Rab al-Thalathine and the other from Taybeh. These are the first deaths from Israeli strikes in about ten days, despite the cessation of hostilities. Since Nov. 27, 36 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to our count, and several others have been kidnapped (some of whom have been released).
The Israeli explosions and operations in southern Lebanon on Monday took place mainly in the western sector of the border, while caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and army commander Joseph Aoun were touring the eastern sector, particularly in Marjayoun and Khiam.
Israeli bulldozers also destroyed roads and houses on the northern outskirts of Maroun al-Ras while there was shooting towards the outskirts of Bint Jbeil. The shelling of houses also continues in Kfar Kila. According to security sources, the Israeli army blew up several houses at once in one of the neighborhoods of the village. In addition, loud explosions, probably caused by the explosion of houses booby-trapped by the Israeli army, were heard in the Sour district, in the western sector of the Blue Line.
In addition, the Israeli army planted a flag on Monday at the entrance to Naqoura, a coastal village in the far south of Lebanon, a few kilometers from the border with Israel, two days after razing a Lebanese army post in this village. This Israeli flag was installed while artillery fire targeted the village this morning. Naqoura is included in the zone prohibited from access by the Israeli army since the cease-fire came into force, which extends several kilometers deep into Lebanese territory. On Saturday, Israeli forces had erected an earth barrier at the western entrance to Naqoura, opposite the UNIFIL headquarters.
Warning to the inhabitants of south Lebanon
The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, published on Monday a new copy of the map of south Lebanon prohibiting access to the border area to residents of some sixty Lebanese localities, as he has done regularly since the ceasefire in Lebanon came into force on Nov. 27.
"A new reminder to the residents of south Lebanon: Until further notice, you are prohibited from moving south to the edge of these villages and their surroundings," he wrote in a message posted on social media along with a map demarcating an exclusion zone about five kilometers deep in Lebanese territory and extending from the village of Shebaa in the east to that of Mansouri in the west.
On Monday afternoon, Adraee claimed that forces operating in southern Lebanon discovered a "weapons depot containing more than 100 explosive devices, 20 rocket launchers and dozens of rocket-propelled grenades."
He also said that "the forces of the 769th Brigade continue to operate in southern Lebanon, in accordance with the agreements between Israel and Lebanon."
"We will not allow Hezbollah to rearm, replenish its capabilities and threaten Israel's security. We will closely monitor Hezbollah's attempts and activities and will not hesitate to do so," he also said in an interview with al-Hurra TV.
The Israeli army remains deployed in southern Lebanon, where it carries out daily operations in villages along the Blue Line. According to the ceasefire agreement, which came into force on Nov. 27, it has 60 days, until the end of January, to withdraw from Lebanese territory, where it launched its ground offensive on Sept. 30. As part of this agreement, based on the full implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701, Hezbollah must withdraw from south of the Litani River and the Lebanese army must deploy there.