International pressure mounts for ceasefire in Lebanon

Photo: Kawnat Haju Agence France-Presse At least 12 people were killed in raids in the Tyre region (south), according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Aya Iskandarani – Agence France-Presse and Pierre-Henry Deshayes – Agence France-Presse respectively in Beirut and Jerusalem

Published at 11:03

• Middle East

The Israeli army intensified its deadly strikes on Monday against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon and engaged in fighting against this pro-Iranian movement in the south of the country, against a backdrop of increased international pressure for a ceasefire.

Hezbollah fired at least 30 projectiles at Israel, the army said, the day after 50 rocket and drone attacks claimed by the Lebanese movement against Israeli regions including Tel Aviv (center), a record since it opened a front against Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of Hamas, its Palestinian ally.

In response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 on its soil from the neighboring Gaza Strip, Israel vowed to destroy this movement and launched a devastating offensive against the Palestinian territory, a war that knows no respite.

After a year of cross-border violence and after having weakened Hamas in Gaza, Israel has shifted the heart of its operations to Lebanon by launching an intense bombing campaign from the September 23 on Hezbollah strongholds.

On Monday, the Israeli military claimed to have struck about 25 Hezbollah-linked targets in the southern suburbs, south and east of Lebanon in one hour. She called for the evacuation of areas of the southern suburbs before striking.

At least 12 people were killed in the raids in the Tyre region (south), according to the Health Ministry.

Due to the intense strikes in recent days, face-to-face classes in Beirut and its surroundings were suspended on Monday.

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“Big mistake”

After an appeal on Sunday in Beirut by the head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, for an “immediate ceasefire”, the UN launched a similar appeal on Monday.

The mediations are based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

1701 stipulates that only the Lebanese army and peacekeepers can be deployed on Lebanon's southern border, which borders northern Israel.

According to the American news site Axios, the parties are moving toward an agreement based on a US draft that provides for a 60-day truce during which Hezbollah and the Israeli army would withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army to deploy there.

It includes the establishment of an international committee to monitor its implementation, according to Axios. The site reports American assurances to support Israeli military action in the event of hostile actions by Hezbollah.

But for the Israeli Minister of National Security and far-right ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Itamar Ben Gvir, a ceasefire would be “a big mistake.”

Dorit Sison, 51, from northern Israel, also fears a settlement like the one in 2006, which she says allowed Hezbollah to “rearm.” Now “they have tunnels, rockets, all the munitions they can get,” she says.

Fighting in southern Lebanon

Israel says it wants to disable Hezbollah and Hamas, allies of its enemy Iran. He wants to stop Hezbollah's rocket attacks, which have displaced some 60,000 northern residents for more than a year.

According to Ani, “fierce” fighting is taking place between Hezbollah and Israeli troops, who have been conducting a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since September 30.

Troops dynamited homes in the border town of Khiam, where they advanced under cover of aircraft and artillery, the agency said.

It reported shelling of Beaufort Castle, a ruined Crusader fortress used as a base by the Israeli army during its occupation of southern Lebanon from 1978 to 2000.

According to the Health Ministry, at least 3,754 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 2023, most of them since last September.

On the Israeli side, 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed in 13 months.

War on Gaza

On the southern front of Israel, in the besieged Gaza Strip, devastated and threatened with famine according to the UN, the Israeli army continues its strikes, particularly in the north of the Palestinian territory.

The major Israeli offensive in Gaza has left at least 44,235 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data, including hostages killed or who died in captivity. That day, 251 people were kidnapped, 97 of whom remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.