Hamas is still holding around 100 hostages inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. The Biden administration says it is making another push for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, after nearly a year of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas repeatedly stalled.
Diplomats see a potential opening after last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist group, an ally of Hamas that began launching rocket attacks against Israel the day after the October 2023 Hamas massacre of more than 1200 Israeli men, women and children.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Monday one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a motorcycle, while the Lebanese army said that a soldier was wounded in an Israeli strike on a military bulldozer at an army base.
The Israeli military said that it carried out a series of strikes in Lebanon on Sunday and Monday, including one in the same area where the soldier was said to have been wounded. It said it struck several military vehicles in Lebanon’s Bekaa province as well as strikes on Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.
The incidents underscored the fragility of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah reached after nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting.
Since the ceasefire went into effect on Wednesday, Israel has struck several times in response to what it says have been ceasefire violations by Hezbollah. Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the deal but so far Hezbollah has not resumed its rocket fire.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday rejected accusations that Israel is violating the tenuous ceasefire agreement, saying it was responding to Hezbollah violations.
In a post on X, Saar said that he made that point in a call with his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot. France, along with the U.S., helped broker the deal and is part of an international monitoring committee meant to ensure the sides uphold their commitments.
Israel says that it reserves the right under the deal to respond to perceived ceasefire violations.
