BEIRUT, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces equipped with large bulldozers and protected by Merkava tanks are carrying out demolition and bulldozing operations on Thursday in border towns in southern Lebanon, Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The Israeli bulldozers continue to detonate, demolish and bulldoze houses in the villages of Kfar Kila, Maroun al-Ras and the inner neighborhoods of the town of Naqoura, said NNA.

A Lebanese security source told Xinhua that Israeli forces have been monitoring the mass demolition for the third consecutive day, and that Lebanon has "raised the Israeli violations in the second meeting of the committee supervising the implementation of the ceasefire agreement."

The five-member monitoring committee -- comprising representatives from the United States, France, UNIFIL forces, and the Lebanese and Israeli armies -- held its second meeting on Wednesday at the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura.

"The percentage of destruction in the town of Naqoura increased from 35 percent to 70 percent after the ceasefire decision came into effect," Naqoura's Mayor Abbas Awada said in a statement, urging the international supervision committee to "implement the ceasefire agreement and look into the hostile Israeli practices."

In a statement on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said its 188th Brigade Combat Team was continuing operations to "remove threats" in southern Lebanon as part of understandings between Israel and Lebanon, while maintaining the terms of the ceasefire.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, effective since Nov. 27, ended confrontations that began on Oct. 8, 2023. Under the agreement, Israel will withdraw from Lebanese territory within 60 days, while the Lebanese army assumes control in the south to prevent the presence of weapons and militants south of the Litani River.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army continues to carry out strikes in Lebanon, which, according to reports from official Lebanese media, ranged between machine gun fire, artillery shelling, bulldozing homes, and airstrikes, some of which resulted in deaths and injuries in southern and eastern Lebanon. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has violated the truce once after it said it was in response to the repeated Israeli attacks. Enditem

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