The Israeli military struck a bomb-making terror lab in the West Bank on Sunday — and fired at suspected Hezbollah fighters returning to southern Lebanon, killing at least 22 people, officials said.
While a cease-fire is in effect with the Palestinian Hamas in the south, the Israeli military ramped up its operations over the weekend against terrorists in the north and west, with ongoing airstrikes bombarding the occupied West Bank’s Jenin area, Israel Defense Force officials said.
The latest attack in Israel’s Operation Iron Wall came Sunday when an airstrike hit a suspected bomb-making facility in Jenin. Israel did not say who had been in control of the terror facility.
The IDF only said Israel remains committed to thwarting future terrorist attacks from the West Bank despite the cease-fire in place with Hamas.
Meanwhile, to Israel’s north, the Jewish state’s 60-day cease-fire deal with Lebanon’s Hezbollah expires Sunday. Both sides had agreed as part of the deal to halt their daily strikes and form a buffer zone along the border to maintain peace.
Discussions over the next phase of the agreement are being carried out between Israel and Lebanon, with the US acting as mediator.
Despite the cease-fire still in place for the day, a group of people attempted to preemptively return to southern Lebanon Sunday, with the IDF firing “warning shots” and accusing Hezbollah operatives of being among the group.
“The IDF continues to operate per the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon and is following attempts by Hezbollah to return to southern Lebanon,” an Israeli official told the Times of Israel.
Lebanese authorities reported that at least 22 people were killed in the shooting, including a member of the Lebanese army, with another 124 others injured.
The Israeli military maintains that it has a right to keep soldiers in southern Lebanon to maintain a buffer zone until the Lebanese army is fully present and forces Hezbollah to completely withdraw to the north of the Litani River, as per the cease-fire agreement.
The IDF has since issued a warning notice to residents in southern Lebanon to stay out of the area, prolonging the return of hundreds of thousands of people to their homes after more than a year of being displaced.
“Urgent!! A new reminder to the residents of southern Lebanon: Until further notice you are prohibited from moving south to the line of villages and their surroundings,” Avichay Adraee, an Arabic-language rep for the IDF, wrote on X.
Hezbollah agreed to the terms of the cease-fire deal after Israel dismantled the vast majority of the terror group’s leadership and infrastructure last year.