Israeli strikes in Lebanon continued Saturday, days after it reached a fragile cease-fire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and as various parties alleged violations of the deal.
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that it conducted a strike on military infrastructure sites adjacent to the border crossings between Lebanon and Syria after “identifying Hezbollah weapon smuggling from Syria into Lebanon after the ceasefire agreement went into effect,” describing it as a violation of the agreement.
IDF strikes aid workers, says one was involved in Oct. 7 attack
The Israel Defense Forces struck a vehicle carrying aid workers on Saturday in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, alleging that one of them was involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The vehicle was carrying three contractors for World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that feeds people in disaster and conflict zones, the organization’s chief communications officer, Linda Roth, said in a text message.
The IDF said one of the workers was a man named Hazmi Kadih, whom it alleged “infiltrated Israel and took part in the murderous October 7th massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz.” However, the IDF said it was “not possible to link [Kadih] to a specific abduction attempt.”
The IDF said it had monitored Kadih “for a while” and had, following the “incident,” asked the WCK “to clarify the issue” and probe whether its staff were involved in the attack. Roth said the IDF did not contact WCK about Kadih before the strike. Kadih had been working as a contractor for WCK since mid-December, Roth said.
WCK said in a statement it was “heartbroken” to confirm that the vehicle carrying its workers was struck by Israeli forces and that it was pausing its operations in Gaza.
The statement said WCK had “no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the October 7th Hamas attack.”
The pausing of WCK’s operations in Gaza comes amid warnings of imminent famine in besieged areas there, where aid groups have struggled to bring in food and other supplies.
An Israeli strike on a WCK convoy in April drew global outrage and a mea culpa from the IDF, which said the strike was in “serious violation” of its procedures.
3 crushed to death at bakery amid growing hunger crisis in Gaza
Three people — two young girls and a woman — died in a crowd crush outside a Gaza bakery supported by the World Food Program, the U.N. agency said Saturday.
The bakery in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza was swarmed “in a moment of desperation as people anxiously tried to get access to scarce food supplies in Gaza,” WFP said in a statement.
WFP said its food deliveries to Gaza have been hampered by “a lack of permissions” and increased violence. Humanitarian groups have for weeks said Israeli restrictions and issues on the ground such as looting have stopped or curtailed aid from getting to those who need it in Gaza.
The girls, ages 13 and 17, and the 50-year-old woman died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery, a doctor at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where their bodies were taken, told the Associated Press.
Experts and aid workers have warned for months of the imminent risk of famine threatening the Gaza Strip, with the flow of food into the region at a low and organized gangs stealing much of the aid Israel allows into the enclave.
Hezbollah chief claims victory in first remarks since cease-fire
BEIRUT — In his first public remarks since the cease-fire began this week, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said the Lebanese militant group and political party was “victorious” in its war with Israel because the group was still standing.
Qassem, who became the group’s leader last month after its longtime chief Hasan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike in September, said Hezbollah’s “victory” now was more significant than that in the 2006 war with Israel “because of the duration, the ferocity of the battle and the huge sacrifices.” Hezbollah has effectively been at war with Israel since it began lobbing rockets across the border following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The rocket attacks have displaced thousands of residents in northern Israel.
“We are victorious because we prevented the enemy from destroying Hezbollah,” he said in televised remarks. “We are victorious because we prevented them from ending the resistance.”
While Qassem claimed victory, the speech fell flat for many Lebanese compared to those of his predecessor, who was known as a charismatic and well-spoken orator. Local politician Majd Harb noted in a post on social media that while Qassem was speaking, an Israel-imposed curfew was in effect in southern Lebanon.
The pause in fighting is contingent upon Hezbollah not regrouping, rebuilding or rearming. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel has severely weakened Hezbollah but that it needs to focus its attention on stamping out Hamas in Gaza, replenish its weapons stockpiles and fend off an undisclosed threat from Iran.
Qassem said Hezbollah and the Lebanese army, which is deploying to areas of southern Lebanon where Israeli troops have sought to root out Hezbollah positions, will coordinate at the “highest level to ensure the implementation of this agreement.”
Hezbollah agreed to the cease-fire while it was “strong in the battlefield” with “our heads held high,” Qassem said.
