Lebanon accuses Israel of refusing ceasefire after new strikes

Photo: Hassan Ammar Associated Press A Lebanese man makes the victory sign while waving a Hezbollah flag on Friday, on the rubble of a building destroyed by the Israeli army in Beirut.

Hachem Osseiran – Agence France-Presse in Beirut

Published at 9:24 a.m. Updated at 6:40 p.m.

• Middle East

The Lebanese prime minister accused Israel on Friday of refusing any ceasefire with Hezbollah, after a series of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, the first this week on this stronghold of the Islamist movement.

The Israeli air force carried out new strikes in Lebanon, including at least ten strikes on the southern suburbs of the capital which caused powerful explosions and transformed entire buildings into piles of rubble and smoking ash.

These strikes came a few hours after a visit to Jerusalem by two American emissaries who tried to negotiate an end to the war opposing Israel to Hezbollah since September, as well as to the one against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which broke out more than a year ago.

The fact that Israel “has again targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut” and carried out “destructive raids, are all indicators that confirm its refusal of all efforts to obtain a ceasefire,” declared Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

The Israeli army claimed to have struck targets of the pro-Iranian movement in the Beirut and Nabatiyeh sectors in the south.

Bombings also targeted the Baalbeck region (east), killing at least 52 and wounding 72 according to Lebanese authorities, and the city of Tyre (south).

In several localities near Baalbeck, men and women were walking among the ruins of buildings, according to images from AFPTV. “This is a residential area, there is nothing military here,” lamented Ghassan al-Shal, a resident of the area.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (ANI) also reported strikes on the southern regions of Bint Jbeil and Aley, east of Beirut.

Photo: Hassan Ammar Associated Press Children from Baalbek and other villages displaced by the Israeli offensive play in a school where they have sought refuge, Thursday, in Deir Al-Ahmar, in the east of the country.

UN remains in Lebanon

After repeated strikes on Baalbeck and Tyre, two cities listed as world heritage sites by UNESCO, a UN official said she feared the war would affect the country's ancient sites.

“Lebanon's cultural heritage must not be another victim” of the conflict, warned the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

The Israeli army has been increasing its airstrikes in Lebanon since September 23, accompanied since September 30 by a ground offensive in the south.

Israel claims to want to neutralize Hezbollah in the border regions to allow the return of 60,000 inhabitants of the north of its territory displaced by the incessant fire of the Lebanese movement, which opened a front against it more than a year ago in support of Hamas.

Photo: Eyad Baba Agence France-Presse Palestinians talk near the body of a person killed by an Israeli strike on Friday in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

A few days before the presidential election in the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received on Thursday American envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk.

According to Israeli media reports citing government sources, the envoys were carrying a plan that would see Hezbollah withdraw from the border areas of southern Lebanon, as well as the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the region, which would be controlled by the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.

But Israeli officials have said troops will not withdraw from southern Lebanon until there is a deal that meets Israel’s security demands.

Read also

• Netanyahu meets U.S. envoys to advance Lebanon ceasefire
• Iran warns response to Israeli attack will be ‘brutal’
• Israel short on troops after more than a year of war in Gaza

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix reaffirmed Friday that UN peacekeepers remain in place in Lebanon, stressing that “abandoning” their positions would risk them being “occupied by one party or another.”

At least 1,900 people have been killed since September 23 across Lebanon, according to an AFP count based on official data.

“Imminent risk of death”

Israel is also continuing its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Strikes on houses left nine dead in Jabalia (north) and Nousseirat (center), according to the Palestinian movement's health ministry.

Bombings take place “every day, at noon, in the afternoon, at night,” Ezzeddine Abou Chawich, a resident of Nousseirat, assured AFP.

The Israeli army announced the death of Ezzedine al-Kassab, a local Hamas commander in Rafah, in the south of the territory.

In Beit Lahia (north), men carried dead bodies using blankets, crossing streets strewn with rubbish after a strike, according to images from AFPTV.

All the inhabitants of the north of the territory, where the army has been concentrating its offensive since October 6, claiming that Hamas is seeking to regroup its forces, are at “imminent risk of death,” the heads of the major UN humanitarian agencies warned on Friday.

Despite international appeals, attempts to end hostilities have been in vain.

On Friday, the Palestinian movement said it had refused to study a proposal on a short truce proposed by the mediating countries, demanding “a complete and lasting ceasefire.” permanent.”

The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack led by Hamas against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or killed in captivity.

Of the 251 people kidnapped, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom have been declared dead by the Israeli army.

The Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza has left 43,259 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry.