Beirut/Jerusalem Israel has launched another major attack in eastern Lebanon. At least 47 people were killed in Thursday’s attack. Israel is being pressured by US mediators to step up operations against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in order to advance ceasefire talks, a Lebanese official said. Meanwhile, US mediator Amos Hochstein said during his visit last Tuesday that the ceasefire was “within our grasp”. Met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. But there was no immediate statement from him.
This shows that there are still gaps to be ironed out for the ceasefire talks. A senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut has demanded changes to the US ceasefire proposal, including ensuring the early withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. The diplomacy marks the most serious effort yet to end the conflict between Israel and the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah, part of the regional spillover from the Gaza war that began more than a year ago.
Attack on areas bordering Syria
Israel has launched recent attacks on areas bordering Lebanon and Syria. Bachir Khoder, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Harmel province, said at least 47 people were killed and 22 wounded in the Israeli attack in the Baalbek area. Posting on Twitter, he said that rescue operations are underway. This is an area bordering Syria dominated by the Shia Islamist Hezbollah. Beirut was rocked when Israeli airstrikes hit the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs about a dozen times, sending clouds of debris into the sky. It was one of the deadliest airstrikes ever carried out on Lebanon. Residents have largely fled the area since Israel launched an offensive against Hezbollah in September.
The Israeli military said its strikes were on Hezbollah structures and that it had minimized civilian casualties through advance warnings and other measures. Israel’s MDA medical service said a 30-year-old man was killed by shrapnel from a Hezbollah rocket in the northern city of Nahriya. (Reuters)
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