Israel suspends strike on southern Lebanon village after Lebanese army request

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Dec 13 (Reuters) – Israel put a planned strike on a village in southern Lebanon on hold on Saturday after the Lebanese army requested access to the site to “address a breach” of a ceasefire agreement, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, Israel had issued an evacuation warning for the village of Yanouh ahead of what it said was a planned strike against infrastructure of the Hezbollah militant group.

“After the warning was issued, the Lebanese Army … requested permission to access the specified site again, which had been declared in violation, in order to address the breach of the agreement,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on X.

“The Israel Defense Forces decided to allow this, and accordingly the airstrike was temporarily frozen.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed militant group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations.

On Tuesday, Israel hit what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon have both sent civilian envoys to a military committee monitoring their ceasefire, a step towards meeting a months-old U.S. demand that they broaden talks in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace agenda.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-DinEditing by Peter Graff and Mark Potter)