By Abdi Latif Dahir NYTimes News Service
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BEIRUT — A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has largely held for a month now, halting the deadliest war in years between the two sides and injecting a measure of calm into a region in turmoil.

The 60-day truce went into effect Nov. 27 and has remained in place even as Hezbollah and Israel have traded attacks and exchanged accusations of violations. But a month on, there are concerns that the deal is not being implemented by either side in a timely manner.

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Iran-backed Hezbollah was considerably weakened by the war. Securing the ceasefire required the group to make serious concessions, such as pulling its fighters and weapons back from a zone in southern Lebanon that borders Israel.

The truce took effect more than a year after Hezbollah began attacking Israel in solidarity with its ally Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip that led the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Israel retaliated by assassinating Hezbollah’s leadership and pummeling the group’s bases.

Israel has conducted a series of strikes on Lebanon since the ceasefire began, most of them concentrated in Hezbollah’s stronghold in south Lebanon. But this week, Israel attacked the eastern Bekaa region for the first time since the deal was agreed, Lebanon’s national news agency reported.

Israel attacked seven border crossings along the Syria-Lebanon border Friday, according to Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, the commanding officer of the Israeli air force. Explaining the reason for the attack, he suggested that Hezbollah was testing Israel by trying to smuggle weapons in over the crossings.

Since the truce went into effect, the Israeli army has been conducting extensive operations in dozens of villages across southern Lebanon, saying it was dismantling tunnels, confiscating weapons and surveillance systems and demolishing a Hezbollah command center.

To end the cross-border fighting, the United States brokered a deal that requires Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters and weapons from southern Lebanon and Israeli troops to gradually return to their side of the border, both within 60 days.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.