Netanyahu hints at resuming attacks on Lebanon despite cease-fire

JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Thursday at the possibility of returning to "intense warfare" if the cease-fire agreement with Lebanon, which took effect a day earlier, is violated.

“If the agreement is violated, we will escalate to intense warfare,” Netanyahu said in an interview with the Israeli Channel 12.

He said, “I refer to it as a cease-fire because I did not declare the war over.”

Israel has committed several violations of the cease-fire agreement since Wednesday, Lebanese authorities have said.

Under the terms of the truce, Israel will withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line de facto border in a phased manner, while the Lebanese army will deploy its forces in southern Lebanon within 60 days.

Implementation of the agreement is to be overseen by the US and France.

More than 3,960 people have been killed and more than 16,500 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and over 1 million displaced since October last year, according to Lebanese health authorities.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul