Like in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army announced this Saturday that it had established a “yellow line” of demarcation in southern Lebanon and carried out strikes since the day before against suspects who were approaching its troops.
“Over the past 24 hours, forces [israéliennes déployées] south of the Yellow Line, in southern Lebanon, spotted terrorists who were violating ceasefire arrangements and had approached forces from areas north of the Yellow Line in a manner posing an immediate threat,” said a military statement issued on the second day of the truce with Lebanon and referring to this “yellow line” for the first time.
A “new frontier”
In the Gaza Strip, the “yellow line” is the name given to the demarcation line between the area under the control of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and that held by the Israeli army (which represents more than 50% of this small territory) after the withdrawal of Israeli troops carried out as part of the ceasefire decreed in October.
“The yellow line constitutes a new border – a forward line of defense for localities [israéliennes] and a line of attack,” said the chief of staff of the Israeli army, Eyal Zamir, in early December, speaking in Gaza in front of reservists.
Actions of “self-defense” according to Israel
This Saturday, “immediately after the identification [des suspects]and in order to eliminate this threat, the Air Force and the forces on the ground attacked the terrorists in several sectors of southern Lebanon,” adds the military statement from the Israeli army, also mentioning “artillery fire [israéliens] to support land forces operating in the area.
In its statement, the Israeli army said it was acting in accordance with directives received from the Israeli government and that it “is authorized to take necessary measures for self-defense in the face of threats […] defense and threat neutralization actions are not limited during the ceasefire period.
Our articles on the war in the Middle East
American President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the entry into force of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, where the Israeli army had once again been in open war against the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, since March 2. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that they had accepted this ten-day ceasefire, effective since midnight local time on Friday (11 p.m. in France).
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