Israeli forces shelled several Lebanese border villages on Thursday after saying “suspects” in vehicles had breached the terms of a ceasefire, testing the staying power of its fragile truce with the militant group Hizbollah.
Two people were injured by an Israeli shell that struck the village of Markaba near the two countries’ disputed border, Lebanese state media reported, while other villages including Taybe and Khiam — the site of heavy ground battles in the final days before the ceasefire — were hit.
Israel’s military said it had opened fire after “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire”.