By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2024-12-02 20:51:05 | Updated at 2024-12-04 08:46:03
1 day ago
The ceasefire in Lebanon, barely five days old, is near collapse as of Monday after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, following the Biden-Harris administration’s erroneous claim that Israeli surveillance drones violated the agreement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported Monday that two Hezbollah rockets had been fired at Har (Mount) Dov, a strategic mountain that Breitbart News visited last Thursday and which Hezbollah claims, wrongly, is Lebanese.
No international authority recognizes Hezbollah’s claim, but the Iranian-backed terror group wants Israel to give up the mountain, which commands all of northern Israel below. Before Israel went on the offensive in the war, the Biden -Harris administration tried to convince Israel to comply with Hezbollah’s demands and withdraw from Har Dov.
Hezbollah’s rocket fire followed the Biden-Harris administration’s claim that Israel had violated the ceasefire by flying surveillance drones over Beirut. As Breitbart News noted earlier Monday, nothing in the text of the ceasefire agreement prevents that, and the deal explicitly states that each side may engage in legitimate self-defense activity.
Instead of protecting Israel, the Biden-Harris administration sided with France, which has an anti-Israel posture and regards Lebanon, a former French colony, as its own turf. That sent a signal of weakness to Hezbollah and to Iran.
With the Biden-Harris administration’s claim in hand, Hezbollah fired at Har Dov, testing Israel’s resolve. Israel responded immediately, with attacks reported on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including artillery fire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement (translated from Hebrew by the Government Press Office): “Hezbollah fire at Mt. Dov constitutes a severe violation of the ceasefire, and Israel will respond forcefully. We are determined to continue enforcing the ceasefire and will respond to every Hezbollah violation — minor and major.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said: “We will respond decisively to Hezbollah’s severe violation of the ceasefire — and will continue to do so. We have plans and targets ready to be carried out and at any given moment.”
Despite the breakdown, the Pentagon reportedly said that the ceasefire agreement is still in effect in Lebanon.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
