The United States has warned against overstating the importance of violations of the ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
"When you have a ceasefire, there are naturally violations,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists in Washington. Almost simultaneously, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced a "powerful” military response to an attack by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia on northern Israel, which he described as a serious violation of the ceasefire.
The Israeli military announced that it was attacking "terrorist targets” in Lebanon. Miller, however, insisted that the ceasefire was a success. He said the fighting had largely been stopped. At the same time, he emphasized that the US did not want the ceasefire to collapse. Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire. (DPA)