Israel, Hezbollah fighting stretches a cease-fire deal to the limit
Live MintAn Israel-Lebanon cease-fire that calmed months of cross-border bloodshed is being strained as the two sides accuse each other of violations and the U.S. races to make sure the deal holds. A collapse of the deal would risk reigniting the fighting that has depopulated a stretch of northern Israel and, according to Lebanon’s health authorities, left thousands of Lebanese dead. “This agreement is a very, very problematic agreement," said Vice Admiral Eliezer Marum, a former chief of the Israeli navy and the former government director for rehabilitating Israel’s north during the current war. The job of targeting remaining Hezbollah infrastructure and confiscating weapons is easier to do with troops inside Lebanon, and Israel could use more time, Israeli security officials and analysts say. “Israel optimally would want a few months to work," said Orna Mizrahi, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser.