Israel has announced the establishment of a "yellow line" in southern Lebanon, marking its first formal military boundary in the country — a measure the Israeli military says mirrors a similar enforcement mechanism it has applied in Gaza.

The announcement came on Saturday alongside Israeli artillery strikes on the southern Lebanese towns of Beit Leif, Qantara and Touline. The Israeli military justified the attacks by claiming fighters had approached areas where Israeli soldiers are stationed, stating that "actions taken in self-defence and to remove immediate threats are not restricted by the ceasefire."

In its Saturday statement, the Israeli military said its forces had, over the previous 24 hours, been operating south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon and had identified terrorists who violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces from north of the Yellow Line in a manner that posed an immediate threat.

The announcement follows a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that came into effect on Thursday — itself a renewed attempt at halting hostilities after a previous ceasefire, nominally in place since 27 November 2024, failed to hold. According to Al Jazeera English, the United Nations counted more than 10,000 Israeli ceasefire violations since that November agreement, along with hundreds of Lebanese deaths during the same period.

Hezbollah Responds

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned that the current truce is contingent on both parties honouring it. "A ceasefire means a complete cessation of all hostilities. Because we do not trust this enemy, the resistance fighters will remain in the field with their hands on the trigger, and they will respond to violations accordingly," Qassem said in a statement read out on television.

He added: "There is no ceasefire from the side of the resistance only; it must be from both sides." Qassem also reiterated Hezbollah's demand that Israel fully withdraw from Lebanese territory.

The two sides remain publicly at odds over preconditions. Israel has repeatedly stated that Hezbollah must be disarmed for any truce to be durable, while Hezbollah insists that an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon — as outlined in the 2024 ceasefire deal — must come first.

Wider Context

Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, described the yellow line announcement as a continuation of the Gazafication of southern Lebanon. Odeh noted that Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had instructed the army to demolish Lebanese border villages "based on the Beit Hanoon and Rafah models," adding: "we know exactly what that looks like because there's nothing left there."

On the diplomatic front, US President Donald Trump revealed on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun could meet in Washington within the coming week or two for negotiations, though no date has been confirmed.