By Maya Gebeily
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Israel said on Thursday a ceasefire with Hezbollah had been breached hours after Lebanese security forces said Israeli tanks had attacked six southern Lebanese sites, raising questions about the peace that has come after more than a year of fighting.
A ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah began on Wednesday under an agreement reached by the United States and France, aimed at allowing people in the two countries to begin returning to their homes along the borders shattered by 14 months of fighting.
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The Israeli army said the ceasefire was violated after the suspects, some in vehicles, arrived in several areas in the southern region.
Hezbollah’s representative, Hassan Fadlallah, accused Israel of attacking people returning to their homes in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army has urged residents of the border towns not to return for their own safety.
Israeli Tank fire hit six locations inside that border on Thursday morning, hitting Markaba, Wazzani and Kfarchouba, Khiyam, Taybe and the agricultural plains around Marjayoun, state media and Lebanese security said.
All locations are within two kilometers of the Blue Line that marks the border between Lebanon and Israel. One of the security guards said that two people were injured in Markaba.
Lebanese families driven from their homes near the southern border tried to return to look after their lands. But Israeli forces remain stationed inside Lebanese territory in border towns and Reuters reporters heard surveillance drones flying over areas in southern Lebanon.
There was no immediate statement on the tanks from Iran-backed Hezbollah or Israel, which has been fighting for more than a year in parallel with the Gaza war.
The deal, a rare development in the troubled region, ended the worst conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group in years. But Israel is still fighting its biggest enemy, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israeli forces can take up to 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon but neither side can launch an offensive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the army not to allow residents to return to villages near the border.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, Lebanon’s top negotiator, said on Wednesday that residents could return home.
Hezbollah said its fighters “remain fully equipped to deal with the desires and attacks of the enemy of Israel.” Its forces will monitor Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon “with their hands at gunpoint”.
The group was weakened by the injuries and the killing of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and other leaders by Israel.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Tala Ramadan; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Toby Chopra and Ros Russell)