Israel Launches More South Lebanon Strikes After Warnings
BEIRUT — Israel carried out a series of strikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, following evacuation orders issued for more than a dozen locations. This escalation comes a day after the Israeli prime minister announced that Israeli forces had pushed deeper into Lebanese territory.
Lebanon's army reported that a targeted Israeli drone strike wounded two soldiers in the south. This incident occurred just one day after military delegations from both countries held landmark security talks in Washington, D.C.
Military Talks and Ceasefire Violations
The discussions in the U.S. capital preceded U.S.-brokered negotiations scheduled for early next week, marking the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted. Despite these diplomatic efforts, a truce that officially took effect on April 17 has never been fully observed. Both Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other of violating the ceasefire and justify their own attacks by citing the other's alleged breaches.
Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's second-in-command, described the latest discussions between Lebanese and Israeli military delegations as productive but made no mention of a ceasefire, which is a key Lebanese demand.
Strikes and Retaliation
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported several Israeli strikes in the south, including artillery fire near the medieval-era Beaufort castle. Culture Minister Ghassan Salame had warned on Friday that Israeli attacks were putting Lebanese heritage sites in serious danger.
In response, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on Saturday. The group also claimed to have ambushed Israeli soldiers near Ghandouriyeh in southern Lebanon, forcing them to withdraw, and fired rockets at a military base in northern Israel.
Political Reactions
The Lebanese presidency announced that President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had agreed to intensify contacts to put an end to these condemned Israeli practices ahead of the new round of talks with Israel scheduled for June 2 and 3. They discussed Israeli attacks and their expansion to a number of southern cities and villages, especially in the districts of Tyre and Nabatieh, in addition to the continued bombing and bulldozing of houses and the destruction of historical landmarks in the south.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that Israeli forces had advanced beyond the Litani River, which runs approximately 30 kilometers north of the Lebanon-Israel frontier. He stated that Israeli forces were hitting Hezbollah head on.
Casualties and Escalation
Israeli strikes on the south killed 11 people on Friday, according to the health ministry in Beirut. The ministry reports that Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,300 people since March 2, when Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war in support of its backer, Iran. Hezbollah said it attacked Israel in retaliation for the death of Iran's supreme leader in U.S.-Israeli strikes when the war erupted on February 28.
