Israeli warplanes launched dozens of airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, despite a new agreement reportedly brokered by US President Donald Trump aimed at strengthening the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Trump said on Monday he had halted an imminent Israeli strike on Beirut after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives of Hezbollah, claiming both sides had agreed that “all shooting will stop.”
However, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported 30 Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Near Sidon, rescuers recovered the bodies of six members of the same family, including two children and a woman, following an Israeli airstrike.
The Israeli military also issued an evacuation warning for the southern city of Nabatiyeh before carrying out further strikes, accusing Hezbollah of breaching the ceasefire.
The latest escalation comes amid broader US efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and advance negotiations with Iran.
Trump on Tuesday rejected reports that Tehran had suspended talks, stating: “The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today.”
Israel said it intercepted two projectiles launched from Lebanon towards the northern city of Safed overnight, while a drone struck a military position in western Galilee. No injuries were reported.
The current conflict intensified after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on 2 March in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the opening phase of a US-Israeli offensive against Iran.
Fighting has escalated sharply in recent days, with Israeli forces raising their flag over Beaufort Castle during their deepest incursion into southern Lebanon since the end of Israel’s occupation in 2000. Hezbollah subsequently launched deeper rocket attacks into northern Israel.
Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said they had ordered strikes on “terrorist targets” in Beirut’s southern suburbs in response to what they described as “repeated and ongoing violations of the ceasefire by Hezbollah.”
A senior Hezbollah official, Mahmoud Qmati, warned that the group “will not accept a partial ceasefire” and said “any aggression against the [southern] suburbs [of Beirut] could lead to a deeper and stronger response.”
Lebanese and Israeli delegations have meanwhile begun a fourth round of talks in Washington, despite the continued violence and ongoing tensions surrounding ceasefire negotiations.
Source: Guardian.
