IDF could strike Lebanese state targets if ceasefire collapses, DM Katz says in stern warning

After Israel carried out a series of airstrikes responding to the first offensive violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah forces, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned, in his most severe warning yet, the Lebanese government to restrain the terror group.

While the IDF focused its attacks solely on Hezbollah and its allied terror groups in Lebanon over the past 14 months of fighting, Katz threatened that if the ceasefire collapses, Israel will not limit itself anymore and, for the first time, could strike targets of the Lebanese state itself.

Katz emphasized that the Lebanese government “needs to decide to authorize the Lebanese army to enforce their part, keep Hezbollah away from the Litani and dismantle all the infrastructure.”

“If they don't do it and this whole agreement collapses, then the reality will be very clear,” he threatened.

“If we return to war, we will act strongly, we will go deeper [into Lebanese territory], and the most important thing they need to know: There will be no more exemption for the state of Lebanon. If until now we separated the state of Lebanon from Hezbollah and between all of Beirut and the Dahiyeh, which suffered very severe blows – this won’t continue.”

As CTP and @TheStudyofWar observed in last night's daily update, the US and France reportedly warned Israel that it is violating the ceasefire.

The IDF conducted strikes into Lebanon since November 27 to thwart what it deemed as Hezbollah’s violations of the agreement. pic.twitter.com/4ui8T2nSzM

— Critical Threats (@criticalthreats) December 3, 2024

During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Israel attacked not just Hezbollah forces and sites but also state infrastructure used by the terror group, such as roads and bridges, as well as the international airport, which Hezbollah uses to smuggle and store weapons.

After Hezbollah launched two mortar grenades at an IDF position at Mount Dov on Monday, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck dozens of targets across Lebanon – but crucially, not in the capital city of Beirut, reportedly at the request of the United States.

On Wednesday morning, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported that U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in a recent meeting pressured Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer to restrain Israel’s response and to give the ceasefire a chance.

“In a conscious and deliberate decision, we decided not to attack in Beirut ‘on the first chance’ following Hezbollah's violations,” a senior political source told N12.

“The decision was to concentrate on targets south and north of the Litani River, with the consideration that there is an escalation threshold that needs to be taken into account.”

According to the report, Dermer told Sullivan, “These are the moments that will shape the future of the agreement, so Israel has no choice but to respond to any violation.”

Sullivan reportedly requested that Israel show flexibility and patience until the ceasefire enforcement mechanism is in place, and that Israel emphasize its commitment to the ceasefire in official statements.

Subsequent comments by Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi all included vows to keep the ceasefire, while also threatening Hezbollah not to commit further violations.

The political source told N12, “It should be taken into account that since the beginning of the week both the USA and France have been accusing Israel of violations, pointing only to the number of violations by Israel and not to the endless violations by Hezbollah. You have to act wisely.”

“Next time the reaction will be harder, and the next time – God forbid – there will be a dramatic reaction. We will not contain these games anymore,” the source added.

“Our partners know that we are ready to go further and return to fighting that will seriously damage Lebanon – if Hezbollah continues.”

Despite these tensions, a Lebanese government source asserted on Wednesday that the ceasefire would hold. Speaking to the Lebanese newspaper al-Jumhuriya, the source said the situation on the ground that led to the ceasefire remained unchanged.

“The agreement was not drawn up so that it would collapse in a few days. The Israeli violations are messages directed first and foremost to the settlers displaced within the entity [a disparaging term for Israel] to convince them that the government is determined to prevent Hezbollah from violating the agreement and to intensify its attempt to encourage them to return to the north,” he said.

He also expressed hope that the enforcement mechanism, headed by a U.S. CENTCOM general, will be able to reign in the Israeli “violations” once it is fully functional.