Israeli “yellow line” in Lebanon. The prime minister accuses Israel of violating the truce

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Saturday the establishment of a demarcation line in southern Lebanon – the “yellow line”, modeled on the one in the Gaza Strip – AFP reported. The Israeli army also confirmed that it had carried out attacks on the targets of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah in the last 24 hours.

“Over the past 24 hours, Israeli forces, deployed south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon, identified terrorists who violated ceasefire agreements and approached (Israeli) forces from the north of the Yellow Line in a manner that constituted an immediate threat,” said the statement, which, as AFP noted, mentioned the “yellow line” for the first time.

“Immediately after identifying them, in order to eliminate this threat, air forces and ground troops attacked terrorists in several sectors of southern Lebanon,” it added.

The “yellow line” refers to the troop deployment line that has been in force since Thursday night due to the ceasefire, explained the Times of Israel website. The attacks were the first operations since the ceasefire came into force, the Israeli portal added.

“Self-defense and threat-removal activities are not restricted by the ceasefire,” the IDF said, adding that it “will prevent harm to Israeli citizens and its soldiers and will take all necessary measures to ensure their safety.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced on Saturday another attack by Israeli forces on the French contingent of UN peacekeeping forces UNIFIL. Salam condemned Israel's actions and ordered an immediate investigation into the matter, Reuters reported.

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that a 10-day ceasefire will be in force in Lebanon from midnight Thursday to Friday. Trump agreed to this agreement with Lebanese President Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since March 2, 2,294 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the Ministry of Health in Beirut reported on Friday. The Israeli army reported that it had killed about 1,700 Hezbollah fighters. (PAP)

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