Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Tuesday that if the recently implemented ceasefire with Hezbollah collapses, the state of Lebanon will no longer be exempt from blame for attacks, and Israel’s military responses will not distinguish between the terror group and the country where it is based.

Katz’s remarks came a day after as the ceasefire, reached last week after 14 months of conflict initiated by Hezbollah, was rattled by a Hezbollah mortar attack on Israeli territory and retaliatory IDF strikes on southern Lebanon.

As ceasefire mediators France and the US were said to be pressing both Jerusalem and Beirut to rein in the fighting and prevent the deal from unraveling, local media reported Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon and near Damascus International Airport in Syria.

“We will work with all our might to enforce all the understandings of the ceasefire agreement, and we show maximum response and zero tolerance,” Katz said during a visit to the northern border areas whose 60,000 residents were evacuated last October when Hezbollah began cross-border fire in support of Hamas amid the Palestinian terror group’s war with Israel.

“Yesterday was the first test, [Hezbollah] shooting at Mount Dov. We reacted strongly and this is exactly what we will do, and we will not allow Hezbollah to return to the old methods they had, such as the tent that was set up and not attacked,” he said, referring to a Hezbollah structure that was placed along the so-called Blue Line that demarcates between the Israel and Lebanon.

Katz said that Lebanon must “authorize the Lebanese army to enforce their part, to keep Hezbollah away beyond the Litani [River] and to dismantle all the infrastructure.”

“If they don’t do it and this whole agreement collapses, then the reality will be very clear. First of all, if we return to war we will act strongly, we will go deeper, and the most important thing they need to know is that there will be no longer be immunity for the state of Lebanon,” he continued.

“If until now we have distinguished between the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah, and between Beirut as a whole and [its southern suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold] Dahiyeh, which we have struck very hard, this will no longer be [the case],” Katz warned.

The Al-Manar outlet, affiliated with Hezbollah, reported Israeli drone strikes in Beit Lif and then later in Deir Seryan.

Meanwhile, Syria’s official news agency reported an alleged Israeli airstrike hit a car on the Damascus airport road, causing it to explode.

“A car exploded after it was targeted in an Israeli aggression on the road to Damascus International Airport,” SANA reported, citing a police source.

It did not say who was targeted or if there were any casualties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor run by a single person or unclear resources, said one person was killed and another wounded in an Israeli drone strike, without specifying who was targeted.

Some Arabic media reports said the strike killed a senior Hezbollah commander.

The development came the day after Syria’s Sham FM radio reported that a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted border crossings between Lebanon and Syria in the al-Qusayr area, a location Israel has hit before, saying the crossings were being used by Hezbollah to smuggle Iranian weapons into Lebanon.

Since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country. Israel rarely comments on such strikes but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in the country or supply weapons via Syria to Hezbollah.

The IDF didn’t comment on the alleged Tuesday strikes in Lebanon or Syria.

The ceasefire that came into effect last Wednesday stipulates that the IDF has 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where it launched an operation in October to drive Hezbollah from the border region, and cede responsibility for the area to the Lebanese army. An American-led committee will be established to adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations.

Hezbollah forces will leave southern Lebanon, and the terror group’s military infrastructure will be dismantled, according to the agreement. The US has also reportedly provided a side letter specifying Israel’s rights to respond to any violations of the deal. The letter is said to include guarantees from Washington that allow Israel reconnaissance flights over Lebanon as long as they do not break the sound barrier.

The Lebanese army, which kept to the sidelines during the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, was looking for more recruits as it beefs up its presence in southern Lebanon.

The army said those interested in joining up have a one-month period to apply, starting Tuesday.

The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, with around 5,000 of them deployed in the south. However, before the war began its forces were no match for the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Amid the renewed exchanges of fire, top Lebanese officials have urged Washington and Paris to press Israel to uphold the ceasefire, two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a close Hezbollah ally who negotiated the deal on behalf of Lebanon, spoke to officials at the White House and French presidency late Monday and expressed concern about the state of the ceasefire, the sources said.

Neither the French presidency nor the foreign ministry were immediately available to comment. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar on Monday, saying both sides should adhere to the ceasefire.

The mechanism chaired by the United States that will be tasked with monitoring, verifying, and helping enforce the truce has yet to begin work.

Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that France’s representative to the committee, Gen. Guillaume Ponchin, will arrive in Beirut on Wednesday and that the committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday.

“There is an urgency to finalize the mechanism, otherwise it will be too late,” the source said, referring to Israel’s gradual intensification of strikes in response to Hezbollah allegedly not keeping its part of the bargain and Lebanese authorities not taking enough action to ensure it does.

The US pressured Israel to limit its response to Monday’s Hezbollah mortar attack and refrain from hitting Beirut, Hebrew media reported, citing Israeli sources.

The US asked Israel to refrain from “disproportionate responses,” the Ynet news site said.

Washington also pressured Lebanon to ensure Hezbollah did not step up attacks and endanger the ceasefire, reports said.

Hezbollah claimed that it launched the mortars in response to Israel’s “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal, and said that it should serve as an “initial warning” over IDF strikes in Lebanon during the truce and the “continued violation of Lebanese airspace by hostile Israeli aircraft.”

While Israel has insisted that its strikes are legitimate, as they are targeting Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure, the US reportedly warned on Monday that its actions violate the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

According to Hebrew media reports, US special envoy Amos Hochstein sent a message in which he urged Israel to uphold the agreement. In particular, he cited Israeli drone flights over Beirut.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel one day after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel, in support of its fellow Iran-backed terror group, drawing Israeli reprisals and leading to the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.

Fighting intensified in late September, with Israel killing much of Hezbollah’s leadership and launching a limited ground incursion on October 1 that has seen soldiers search villages for rockets and other arms held by the terror group, and tackle its terror tunnels and other infrastructure.