After more than a month and a half of war between Israel and Hezbollah, a ten-day truce came into effect on Friday. But both sides have since accused each other of violating it.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have ordered the Israel Defense Forces to operate with full force both on land and in the air, and during the ceasefire, to protect our soldiers in Lebanon from any threat,” Katz said at an event in the occupied West Bank.
He added that the army was also ordered to demolish any building or road that was “mined” or posed a threat to soldiers.
“The goal is to destroy the houses in the villages near the border that in every way served as terrorist outposts of Hezbollah and threatened Israeli communities.”
The army announced that an Israeli soldier was killed in southern Lebanon on Friday when he entered a building that had been mined. Katz has repeatedly warned that Israel will demolish houses along the border in order to establish a safe zone in southern Lebanon, reports Hina.
Yesterday, Israeli forces carried out demolitions in the town of Bint Jbeil, the scene of fierce fighting with Hezbollah before the ceasefire.
“The overall goal of the campaign in Lebanon is to disarm Hezbollah and remove the threat to communities in northern Israel,” the minister added. “If the Lebanese government continues to neglect its obligations, the Israel Defense Forces will continue military actions,” he said.
(Vijesti.ba)
