{"id":90141,"date":"2026-04-30T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T00:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/90141\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T00:01:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T00:01:21","slug":"idf-chief-says-theres-no-ceasefire-in-south-lebanon-amid-continued-fighting-with-hezbollah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/90141\/","title":{"rendered":"IDF chief says there’s \u2018no ceasefire\u2019 in south Lebanon amid continued fighting with Hezbollah"},"content":{"rendered":"

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said during a visit to troops posted in southern Lebanon on Wednesday that there \u201cis no ceasefire,\u201d as Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire<\/a> despite a truce that\u2019s been in place for almost two weeks.<\/p>\n

Zamir\u2019s comments came amid a reported push from Jerusalem to get the US to limit its historic direct talks with the Lebanese government to a two-week timeframe, and to sign off on a large-scale IDF campaign against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group, if the talks fail.<\/p>\n

The US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which started on April 17, was extended on April 24 for an additional three weeks, US President Donald Trump announced at the time. His announcement came as Israeli and Lebanese diplomats met for US-brokered talks.<\/p>\n

But cross-border fighting has continued. Speaking in the southern Lebanese town of Taybeh, one of the border villages where Israeli troops are deployed, Zamir said that the IDF \u201cwill not tolerate\u201d Hezbollah\u2019s attacks, while adding that Israel will not leave the security buffer zone it holds in south Lebanon until the threat to Israel\u2019s northern communities is removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Lebanon, the mission assigned to us by the political echelon is to position ourselves along the line to prevent direct fire on the communities. We have achieved this; this is the line we are on. We may be required to remain on it,\u201d Zamir said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe will not tolerate attacks and fire on our communities, and we will not leave until long-term security for the northern communities is ensured,\u201d he said, according to remarks published by the IDF.<\/p>\n

The IDF is continuing to fight, the chief of staff added, saying that the military is \u201cworking to deepen the operational achievements and to protect our forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the combat front, there is no ceasefire; you continue to fight, to remove direct and indirect threats from the northern communities, to thwart terror infrastructure, to locate and kill terrorists,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is seen on the border with Lebanon, April 29, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n

\u201cAny threat, anywhere, to our communities or our forces, including beyond the Yellow Line and north of the Litani [River], will be removed. Your mission and duty are to act with freedom of action and remove any threat,\u201d Zamir said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage we are not advancing beyond the line, but we will continue to act and remove threats freely,\u201d he added, saying there \u201cis no restriction on [destroying] infrastructure and killing terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIsraeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariel Schalit)<\/p>\n

During Zamir\u2019s visit, the IDF continued its operations in southern Lebanon, saying that it struck some 20 Hezbollah sites with airstrikes and artillery shelling in the southern Lebanon towns of Baraashit and Shaqra on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

The sites hit by the Israeli Air Force and the artillery regiment of the 91st \u201cGalilee\u201d Regional Division included weapon depots and other buildings used by Hezbollah for \u201cmilitary purposes,\u201d the IDF said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hezbollah terror organization used these infrastructures to advance and carry out terror attack plans against IDF troops and Israeli civilians,\u201d the military added.<\/p>\n

The IDF said it also struck and destroyed a Hezbollah rocket launcher, and shot down two explosive drones that the terror group launched at Israel.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah launched several more explosive-laden first-person view (FPV) drones at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, in two separate incidents Wednesday, the army said. The drones exploded near the forces, but did not cause any injuries.<\/p>\n

Trump said to rebuff Israeli efforts to renew fight<\/p>\n

According to a Wednesday report on Channel 12, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call with Trump, during which the Israeli premier asked for further freedom of action in Lebanon and for a two-week time limit on the peace talks with Beirut.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIDF airstrikes in Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side. April 29, 2026. (Ayal Margolin\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n

Israel has argued that Hezbollah attacks on Israeli soldiers and communities in Israel\u2019s north are making an agreement extremely unlikely, while Israel\u2019s deterrence in the area is eroding as it holds off from a major response to the rocket fire.<\/p>\n

If no deal is reached by mid-May, according to the report, Israel wants Trump\u2019s blessing to launch the expanded campaign in Lebanon that it had been planning.<\/p>\n

However, Trump insisted that Israel \u201crestrain itself,\u201d the outlet added, citing an unnamed Israeli source. The president reportedly urged Netanyahu not to \u201ctake actions that could jeopardize the ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tLebanese President Joseph Aoun, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Collage\/AP)<\/p>\n

The report said that Israel is also pushing for the Lebanese military to take more concrete action against the Iran-backed terror group, but the source cautioned:\u00a0 \u201cThe situation is very complex and it is difficult to see Hezbollah being restrained by the weak Lebanese army.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu updated his limited security cabinet during a meeting on Wednesday, at which he said that Trump still views the ceasefires in Iran and Lebanon as linked, and he does not want Israel to restart the war before he feels that talks with Tehran have been exhausted, the source told Channel 12.<\/p>\n

According to the report, Israel estimates that, even if the negotiations with Lebanon progress, the continued Hezbollah fire in the north could still continue for a while longer.<\/p>\n

Sa\u2019ar: Hezbollah continuing to \u2018drag Lebanon into this war\u2019<\/p>\n

Regarding the talks with Beirut, Lebanon\u2019s President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that he is waiting for the White House to set a date for the next round of direct negotiations with Israel.<\/p>\n

The only path for Israel to achieve security is through negotiations, Aoun said, but it must abide by the ceasefire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Israel believes that through its violations and the destruction of border villages, it can achieve security,\u201d he said, \u201cthen it is mistaken, because it has tried that before and it did not lead to any result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to Saudi Arabian state-owned Al Arabiya English, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar accused Hezbollah of continuing to \u201cdrag Lebanon into this war,\u201d warning that Israel will keep responding to attacks from across the border.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tForeign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar in an interview with Al Arabiya English, April 29, 2026. (Screen capture: Al Arabiya English)<\/p>\n

Israel supports the ceasefire, Sa\u2019ar said, but will not hesitate to act when its northern communities or IDF troops in southern Lebanon are targeted, saying: \u201cWhen they attack\u2026 we need to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed that Israel has \u201cno territorial ambitions in Lebanon,\u201d describing Hezbollah as \u201ca mutual problem for us and for the Lebanese.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel will have \u201cno problem to withdraw\u201d once the group is dismantled alongside other armed factions, Sa\u2019ar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must do today what the army of Lebanon should have done a long time ago,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

1 million Lebanese said to soon face food insecurity<\/p>\n

Amid the fighting, a global hunger monitor on Wednesday warned that more than 1 million people in Lebanon are expected to face a food insecurity crisis in the months ahead as a result of renewed conflict and mass displacement.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tDisplaced people who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sit inside a shelter tent in Beirut, Lebanon, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Bilal Hussein)<\/p>\n

A new analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has found that 1.24 million people will be unable to consistently meet basic food needs and will be forced to reduce the quality and quantity of foods consumed, or resort to harmful coping strategies to survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese results underscore the severity of the current situation in Lebanon, where conflict intersects with economic pressures putting national food security under critical risk and juncture,\u201d said Nora Ourabah Haddad, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations\u2019 representative in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

The nearly two-month war has displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon, with many heads of households out of work and relying on donations to survive as the regional conflict drives up food prices.<\/p>\n

The IPC said Lebanon\u2019s agricultural sector, once a critical source of food and income, has suffered from damage to farmland, displacement of farmers and rising input costs.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tDisplaced people who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sit outside shelter tents in Beirut, Lebanon, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Bilal Hussein)<\/p>\n

More than 76 percent of south Lebanon\u2019s farmers have been displaced and 22% of all agricultural land damaged in the latest bout of fighting, according to Lebanon\u2019s agriculture ministry.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear how many will be able to return.<\/p>\n

\u201c[After] a war like this war, the agriculture sector would need years and years of rehabilitation,\u201d Lebanese Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani told Reuters.<\/p>\n

He said the sector had not yet fully recovered from the 2023-2024 war sparked by Hezbollah in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. He said that conflict hiked the costs of diesel on which most farmers rely for their equipment.<\/p>\n

The previous war cost the country\u2019s agricultural sector $586 million in losses and destroyed nearly 5,000 hectares of forest cover, according to Lebanon\u2019s National Council for Scientific Research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said during a visit to troops posted in southern Lebanon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[27975,41,38,1046,27652,849,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-90141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lebanon","8":"tag-2026-israel-hezbollah-conflict","9":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-eyal-zamir","12":"tag-idf-israel-defense-forces","13":"tag-joseph-aoun","14":"tag-lebanon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116490723996310330","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}