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Israel on Sunday reported the death of a second soldier in Lebanon as a fragile ceasefire largely held despite Israeli strikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets in its self-declared security zone along the Lebanese border.
Lebanon's army restored more river crossings destroyed by Israel as thousands of displaced Lebanese streamed south on the third day of a 10-day ceasefire.
Army engineers worked to fully open the Khardali-Nabatieh road and partially open the Burj Rahal-Tyre bridge, Lebanon's National News Agency said.
Work was also under way to repair the bridge connecting the city of Tyre to Tayr Falsay, in co-operation with the National Authority for the Litani River, NNA reported.
The Israeli army destroyed bridges across the Litani River during more than six weeks of fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah. The conflict threatened to derail efforts to end the Iran war, with Tehran insisting that its Lebanese ally was part of a two-week Pakistan-mediated truce that began on April 8.
The Israeli army said one soldier was killed and nine others injured on Saturday when an explosive device detonated as a army vehicle passed over it. Another soldier was killed in an explosion inside a building on Friday. The army said it launched air strikes after Saturday's death, and earlier attacked a “terrorist cell” that “violated the ceasefire agreement” and approached its troops “in a manner constituting an immediate threat”, as well as Hezbollah fighters who were spotted entering an underground shaft “south of its “forward defence line”.
Turkey's Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, said Lebanon was now facing “occupation” by Israel, which is implementing the policies it used in Gaza in its northern neighbour.
“Israel, through repeated declarations, has begun to implement in Lebanon the same regional practices and occupation policies that it has applied in Gaza,” Mr Fidan told journalists at a conference in the Turkish resort of Antalya on Sunday.
The continuing US-Iran negotiations have overshadowed Israel's actions in Lebanon, allowing it to “take advantage of this situation to create a fait accompli,” he continued. “This must not be allowed, and we will do everything we can to prevent it.”
Israel has killed more than 2,000 people in attacks on Lebanon since the fighting broke out on March 2, when Hezbollah began launching rockets into Israeli territory. More than one million people have been displaced by the fighting or under threats issued by the Israeli army as it destroyed towns and villages along the border to create a “security zone”.
Meanwhile, a French member of Unifil, the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, was killed in an attack on Saturday that France and Israel blamed on Hezbollah.
Hezbollah denied involvement in the attack, which injured three other troops and raised the death toll among Unifil peacekeepers since March 2 to four.
