TEHRAN - Israel has consistently violated a ceasefire with Hezbollah that initially went into effect on November 27 last year. 

On Tuesday night, Israeli drones conducted two airstrikes in the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. 

The Israeli army claimed it targeted vehicles associated with the Hezbollah resistance movement that were carrying arms. But it has failed to provide any evidence to back up the claim.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, Israel has killed more than 80 people in the country since the implementation of the ceasefire that was brokered by the US and France.  

Based on the two-month truce agreement, Israeli troops should have withdrawn from southern Lebanon by the Sunday deadline. However, Israel maintained its military presence in the region. On the same day, Israeli soldiers killed two dozen Lebanese people who were trying to return to their homes in the country's south.

On Monday, they shot dead two more people. 

Israel has tried to justify its continued presence in southern Lebanon by accusing Hezbollah of not sufficiently pulling back from the border. Lebanon has denied the claim.

The US and Lebanon announced on Sunday that the deadline to meet the ceasefire’s terms had been extended to February 18. 

Israel and Hezbollah began exchanging cross-border fire on October 8, 2023. That was a day after Israel launched war on Gaza. The Lebanese resistance movement struck strategic and military sites in Israel with drones and missiles in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in the enclave. 

In September 2024, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon and a week later sent its troops into southern Lebanon. 

But the regime was compelled to sign the November ceasefire after failing to meet its military objectives. 

Prior to the implementation of the ceasefire, Israel had killed at least 3,961 people across Lebanon and injured more than 16,500 others. 

Based on the initial ceasefire, upon the withdrawal of the Israeli military, peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were scheduled to deploy, subsequently joined by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). Hezbollah should also pull back north of the Litani River, ending its presence in the south.

For now, Israel has not complied with the conditions set forth in the original ceasefire agreement.

Israel seems likely to seek justifications for remaining in southern Lebanon following the conclusion of the extended deadline.

Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982 and occupied parts of the country until it was driven out by Hezbollah in 2000.

In 2006, Israel also launched a full-scale military offensive against Lebanon. Hezbollah, however, humiliated the regime and forced its military to retreat in disgrace. 

Currently, Israel appears to be under the misconception that Hezbollah has been diminished, which may create an opportunity to maintain its occupation of southern Lebanon.

Israel's incursion into Lebanon in the early 1980s fostered unity among the populace against the regime's occupation.

Undoubtedly, Israel’s ambitions to reoccupy Lebanon will go up in smoke in light of increasing resistance. Israel might maintain its presence in Lebanon; however, this will come at the cost of its soldiers' lives.