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Ceasefire, then projectiles
The Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday that it intercepted two projectiles fired from Lebanon toward Israel, even though a ceasefire had been announced earlier in the week.
“The Israeli Channel 13 reported that the administration of U”
After sirens sounded in two towns in northern Israel, a military statement said that "two projectiles crossed the border from Lebanon into Israeli territory" had been intercepted.
The same source said the IDF told Agence France-Presse that the projectiles were not the first fired at Israeli territory since the ceasefire was announced on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, mediators from Israel and Lebanon, at the end of the fourth round of direct talks under U.S. sponsorship in Washington, agreed to implement a comprehensive ceasefire conditioned on a "total halt to Hezbollah's fire" and its withdrawal from south of the Litani River, about thirty kilometers from the border.
Hezbollah rejects direct government talks with Israel, and its secretary-general Naim Qassem described them on Thursday as a "farce and insult."
Gaza operation halted
An Israeli report said that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump halted a military operation that Israel had planned to carry out in the Gaza Strip, after Washington objected and asked to postpone its execution.
Channel 13 reported that the military plan was discussed at the highest levels of Israeli political and security leadership before briefing the U.S. administration, which opposed the operation and asked not to implement it at this stage.
Instead of launching a broad new military operation, the Israeli army was said to be moving to strengthen its on-the-ground presence and expand the areas under its control inside the Gaza Strip.
The report also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel controls about 60% of Gaza's territory, with the aim of raising the share to 70%.
It added that land under Israeli control rose to about 59% of Gaza's area, up from 53% at the start of the ceasefire in October last year, while the report described Israel proceeding with what a foreign diplomatic source called creeping and quiet annexation of additional areas inside the Strip.
Quiet annexation and stakes
After the U.S. objection, Israel replaced a planned military operation in Gaza with what Channel 13 described as "silent annexation" of lands inside the enclave.
““Bury the idea of a Palestinian state”
The report said Washington asked Tel Aviv not to proceed with the planned operation after reviewing the details, and that the Israeli army instead worked to implement a "gradual and quiet" annexation of lands inside the Gaza Strip.
Hamas criticized the Israeli step as a violation of the ceasefire, saying it aims to "blow up the negotiations and foil the efforts being made."
The same source said that over the past week up to Friday, the Israeli army moved the blocks of the Yellow Line toward the west by about 300 meters in several areas of the Gaza Strip, especially in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City.
It also stated that since the ceasefire began, the Israeli army has killed and wounded dozens of Palestinians on charges of attempting to cross this line, while Israel continued to violate the ceasefire by preventing the entry of quantities of food, medicines, medical supplies, shelter materials, and ready-made houses agreed upon into the Gaza Strip.
