A ceasefire offered hope after weeks of intensified Israeli strikes on Lebanon, but renewed Israeli attacks and the creation of a military boundary similar to the “Yellow Line” in Gaza are casting doubt on the agreement. The 10-day ceasefire started on Thursday night after 46 days of Israeli bombardment and a ground invasion in southern Lebanon. Within hours, Israeli forces were reported to be carrying out demolitions, artillery shelling and land-clearing operations in several border areas in violation of the ceasefire.
At the centre of the dispute is what Israel calls a “Yellow Line” – a military zone stretching roughly 10km (6 miles) north of the border inside southern Lebanon. Israeli officials say they intend to keep the zone under military control, while reserving the right to strike the area in what they describe as efforts to root out Hezbollah. Lebanon and Hezbollah have rejected the move as an occupation of sovereign territory that they say violates the very premise of a ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces “are remaining in Lebanon in a reinforced security buffer zone”. That is where we are and we are not leaving.” The line has drawn comparisons with Gaza, where Israel has partitioned Palestinian territory into separate zones, with an eastern area totalling 60 percent of the enclave controlled by the Israeli military. Palestinians, most of whom are displaced, have been crammed into the remaining territory to the west.
In Gaza, Israeli troops routinely fire on anyone approaching the line and have demolished hundreds of homes in the effective buffer zone. Israeli attacks have killed more than 700 people and wounded around 2,000 since the US-brokered “ceasefire” was agreed last October. Senior Israeli military officials told reporters during a briefing on Saturday that “the ‘Yellow Line’ model implemented in Gaza will be replicated in Lebanon; the IDF [Israeli military] has already established a ‘Yellow Line’ and its forces are currently working towards it”.
The military officials added that residents will not be allowed to return to 55 Lebanese towns and villages within that area. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Friday that the Israeli military “will continue to hold and control all the positions it has cleared and secured”. The wording of the ceasefire has prompted immediate disagreement, with the text saying Israel and Lebanon “will implement a cessation of hostilities”, while later saying that Israel “shall preserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defence, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks”.
Analysts say those clauses are riddled with contradictions and leave wide room for interpretation. Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett said terms released by the US State Department appeared to allow Israel to act in what it defines as self-defence. She said Israeli forces had continued demolitions in Lebanese villages, artillery fire and machinegun attacks targeting communities on or near the front line – or the “Yellow Line”.
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