A senior Israeli official said that Israel considers itself in a ceasefire with Hezbollah after responding to the overnight killing of four IDF soldiers. The official said the response, limited to two Bekaa command posts with no Dahiyeh strikes, is exhausted, and that Israel retains freedom of action against emerging threats.
A senior Israeli official stated Friday afternoon that Israel considers the current situation with Hezbollah to be a ceasefire, provided Hezbollah does not attack. The official told Doron Kadosh that Israel's response to the overnight incident in which four soldiers were killed in Lebanon is exhausted, and included two strikes on Hezbollah command posts in the Bekaa Valley — not in Beirut's Dahiyeh district. The IDF remains deployed in southern Lebanon with freedom of action against emerging threats to its forces and territory.
The Lebanon Health Ministry separately reported 47 fatalities from strikes across Lebanon since midnight, without specifying combatant versus civilian status.
This posture follows a series of reciprocal statements over the past hours. At 16:07 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported an Israeli assessment saying the same: the response was concluded, no Dahiyeh strikes. Minutes later, at 16:10, two thread items confirmed the ceasefire entered into effect at 16:00 Friday, with an Israeli official saying the IDF retains freedom of action. A subsequent bulletin at 16:18 quoted an official returning to the ceasefire framework without initiated strikes unless attacked. The latest, at 16:23, had a senior official saying the ceasefire stands while the IDF continues striking threats. The current statement reinforces that framework while adding the explicit condition: "if Hezbollah do not attack us, as far as we're concerned this is not a time of war."
The Zioneer earlier reported Hezbollah's posture — the group said Monday (Jun 15, 15:09 Jerusalem) it had not attacked since the ceasefire but reserves the right to respond to Israeli operations in Lebanon. An IDF report Tuesday (Jun 16, 05:56 Jerusalem) confirmed Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile and mortar shells at troops without casualties; soldiers were not authorized to respond.
What remains open: Hezbollah has not yet formally responded to this latest Israeli statement.
6 developments
- DevelopingIsrael says response to 4 soldiers' deaths in Lebanon exhausted, no Dahiyeh strikes
- StrongIDF says Hezbollah ceasefire violations require ongoing southern Lebanon operations
- StrongUS Ambassador Huckabee: Israel strikes when attacked; ceasefire depends on Hezbollah
- StrongIsrael agrees to ceasefire on condition it stays in security zone, source says
Source and signal
- Internal intake