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Israeli forces pushed deeper into Lebanon during the ceasefire despite growing frustration over alleged violations of the agreement.

Thursday’s Israeli incursion into Wadi al-Hujeir, 8km north of the UN Blue Line marking the border between Israel and Lebanon, was accompanied by heavy machine gun fire, according to Lebanese state news, which sent of residents of nearby villages to flee.

The invasion pushed past the highest level of Israeli soil invasion in this area during the war, said a Lebanese army official.

Israel’s advance is about halfway through a 60-day implementation period for the US-brokered ceasefire agreement, which requires the Israeli military and the Hizbollah militant group to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

The clashes were triggered after the Hamas attack on October 7 2023 in Israel, where Hizbollah fired at Israel to “unite” the Palestinians.

Despite a ceasefire aimed at ending a year of fighting, Israeli forces have continued to attack what it says are fighters of the militant group and military assets in the southern region. Lebanese authorities say Israeli forces have killed at least 28 people since the ceasefire began.

Israel’s demolition of houses along the occupied border, using explosives or bulldozers, has also been an almost daily occurrence since the ceasefire began.

Unifil, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, expressed “concern at the continued destruction” by Israeli forces of “residential areas, agricultural land and road networks”.

“Unifil continues to urge the timely withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces (replacing Hizbollah) in southern Lebanon, along with the full implementation of Resolution 1701 as a comprehensive path towards peace,” the statement released on Thursday added.

So far, Israel has only withdrawn from the Lebanese village of Khiam before advancing on Lebanese army units tasked with upholding the terms of the agreement.

Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati this week criticized Israel’s “procrastination” in withdrawing from the country, before his government issued a formal protest to the UN Security Council over what it claimed were 816 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including house demolitions.

The US-led international monitoring mechanism created to address any violations of the agreement has not publicly weighed in on Israel’s military actions.

Israeli officials maintained that military operations in southern Lebanon targeted Hizbollah fighters, weapons caches and underground bunkers and were authorized under the terms of a two-month ceasefire.

During a visit to an Israeli army position inside southern Lebanon on Sunday, Israeli defense minister Israel Katz vowed to “not allow Hizbollah operatives to return to the southern villages and rebuild the terrorist infrastructures” that threaten communities in northern Israel.

“If Hizbollah does not withdraw beyond the Litani (river) and tries to violate the ceasefire – we will crush its head,” Katz added.

Hizbollah has so far not responded significantly to Israel’s operations in Lebanon, with analysts saying the group is ill-equipped to continue the war after a year of fighting has eroded its capabilities. and eliminated most of its top leadership.

A western diplomat familiar with Lebanese affairs said the ceasefire would continue because of the weakening of the militant group. “Hizbollah is fine with the ceasefire, it is not in any position to confront Israel again,” the diplomat added.

Cartography by Steven Bernard