Israel sees Lebanese President Joseph Aoun as directly responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday.
The IDF said it struck on Friday evening an active Hezbollah military outpost, as well as underground infrastructure, in southern Lebanon's Beaufort Ridge.
"The presence of the site and the activity at the site constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the military said.
“We will not return to the reality of October 7,” the defense minister added, stating that the Israeli military “will continue to respond forcefully to any violation.”
Israel points blame at Aoun despite Hezbollah tensions
Katz's comments also came amid tensions between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah after Aoun told a senior Iranian official on Tuesday that no group in Lebanon is permitted to bear arms or rely on foreign backing.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that Qassem's comments were irresponsible, encouraging strife, and carried "a veiled threat of civil war," Arab media reported.
"There is no party in Lebanon authorized to carry weapons outside the Lebanese state," he said, and explained that Qassem's statements about "giving Hezbollah's weapons to Israel" were false.
"No one asked to give your weapons to Israel, but rather to the Lebanese Army, whose patriotism and loyalty we refuse to question," he stated.