Lebanese army says it detained suspects in March attacks on Israel, no mention of Hezbollah

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A Lebanese Special Operations Forces member trains at the 300-meter range during Eager Lion 2024 at King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center, Jordan, May 13, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Stolze via DVIDS)

CAIRO (Reuters) -     The Lebanese army said on Wednesday it had detained a number of Palestinians and Lebanese suspected of involvement in two attacks from the country on Israel in March and did not mention Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has denied any role.

On March 28, Israel carried out its first major airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs in months, retaliating for an earlier rocket launch from Lebanon. Israel had struck southern Lebanon on March 22 after it said it intercepted rockets fired from across the border.

The Israeli attacks amounted to the most serious test of a shaky ceasefire deal agreed in November between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Lebanese armed group has denied any involvement in the rocket firing.

In its statement, the Lebanese army did not mention Hezbollah. It said it conducted raids in several areas, detained a number of individuals and confiscated the equipment used in the two attacks. 

The Israeli-Hezbollah conflict marked the deadliest spillover of the Gaza war, and a blistering Israeli offensive after months of cross-border exchanges of fire wiped out Hezbollah's top commanders, many of its fighters and much of its arsenal.

The truce in November halted the fighting and mandated that southern Lebanon be free of Hezbollah fighters and weapons, that Lebanese troops deploy to the area and that Israeli ground troops withdraw from the zone. Each side accuses the other of not entirely living up to those terms.

 (Reporting by Jaidaa Taha; editing by Philippa Fletcher)