Israel struck Hezbollah weapons production and storage facilities in the Beqaa Valley on Thursday, the IDF said in a statement. The military said Israeli attacks would continue " in order to remove any threat to the State of Israel." Reports in Lebanon claimed the IDF also attacked areas near the Lebanese border with Syria.
Earlier Lebanon announced the appointment of Brigadier General Rodolphe Haykal as the new commander of the. He will be charged with the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the south. In his last position, Haykal was commandeer of the area south of the Litani River, where Hezbollah forces were entrenched.
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IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley on Thursday
The government also approved the conscription of 4,500 new soldiers. According to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar newspaper, Lebanon's Defense Minister Michel Menassa will request that the army increase its forces by 1,500 soldiers a year over the next three years. According to the report, the shortage of manpower in the military would not be an obstacle to the expansion of its authority in South Lebanon.
The Lebanese army would, according to recent reports, play a considerable role in the teams established to resolve the border disputes with Israel. Al Ahkbar reported that the Beirut government was waiting for the U.S. and France to determine the makeup of the negotiating teams and their coordination. The paper said the government preferred the teams to be made up of military personnel, including technical experts, rather than civilians.
According to Al Akhbar, the chairman of the commission overseeing the implementation of the cease-fire agreement gave his "final and stern" recommendation to the Lebanese army to raid Hezbollah's arms depots north of the Litani River.