American mediator Amos Hochstein, who helped broker the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect last week, accused Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire in its attempts to prevent the Hezbollah terrorist organization from rearming and reestablishing itself in southern Lebanon, Ynet reported on Monday.
Hochstein's accusations against Israel, which he made to officials in Jerusalem, join similar accusations made by France. However, America;s concerns appear to concern the use of surveillance drones in Beirut rather than the strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, as France has complained about.
American officials told Ynet that “restraint is required from all sides” if the ceasefire is to hold.
France has claimed that rather than attempt to enforce the terms of the ceasefire itself and actively prevent Hezbollah from violating the agreement, Israel must first submit complaints before taking any military actions.
“The Lebanese are fully committed to upholding the ceasefire and preventing Hezbollah from reestablishing its presence in southern Lebanon, but they need time to demonstrate their efforts,” a French official told Ynet on Sunday.
Israel has maintained that it has the right to prevent Hezbollah from violating the terms of this ceasefire the way the terrorist organization violated the terms of the 2006 ceasefire, after which it did not disarm or withdraw from the area south of the Litani River as it was required to do but became further entrenched and increased its stockpiles of missiles and rockets by tenfold.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar spoke with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot today (Monday) and countered France's claims.
"I spoke with @jnbarrot France Foreign Minister about the ceasefire understandings in Lebanon," Sa'ar wrote in X. "I emphasized that Israel is not violating the ceasefire understandings but rather enforcing them in response to Hezbollah’s violations."
"The presence of Hezbollah operatives south of the Litani is a fundamental violation of the agreement and they must move north. Israel is committed to the successful implementation of the ceasefire understandings and will not return to the reality of October 6, 2023," he said.