The southern suburbs of Beirut, stronghold of pro-Iranian Hezbollah, were targeted by a series of Israeli airstrikes on Friday morning, as the United States tries to move towards a ceasefire in Lebanon.
A few days before the American presidential election, the visit to Jerusalem by emissaries Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk aims in particular to find a solution to more than a month of war between Israel and the Lebanese Islamist movement, supported by Iran.
The night was marked by new bombings on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, regularly targeted in recent weeks by the Israeli army which had launched a call to evacuate several sectors.
The Lebanese National Agency (ANI) reported at least 10 strikes. According to images broadcast by AFPTV, they caused strong explosions and thick plumes of smoke then rose from the area.
“The raids caused massive destruction in the targeted areas and dozens of buildings were razed,” reported ANI, also reporting the outbreak of fires.
On Thursday, six rescue workers affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal were killed in Israeli raids in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities. Bombings particularly targeted the surroundings of Tire, in the south, and Baalbeck, in the east.
The war that has raged since October 7, 2023 in the Gaza Strip has spread to Lebanon, where Israel has been carrying out massive airstrikes against Hezbollah since September 23.
At least 1,829 people have been killed since September 23 in Lebanon, according to an AFP count based on official data.
– American plan –
Israel says it wants to neutralize Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to allow the return of some 60,000 inhabitants of the north of its territory displaced by incessant rocket fire since the start of the war in Gaza.
In northern Israel on Thursday, rocket fire from Lebanon left seven people dead, according to local authorities, including four foreign agricultural workers in Metoula.
Thailand then reported the death of four nationals in this border town.
According to Israeli media citing government sources, the plan prepared by American envoys provides for a withdrawal of Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, bordering northern Israel, as well as the withdrawal of the Israeli army from this region, control of which would return to the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeepers.
Lebanon would have the responsibility to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and Israel would retain its right to defend itself in accordance with international law, according to this document.
Israeli officials said the soldiers, engaged in a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since September 30, would not withdraw until an agreement that would meet Israel's security demands.
– “Total dismantling” –
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who received the American envoys on Thursday, assured that he “appreciated” Washington's support, while refusing to give in to pressure from his ally.
“The terrorist armies will no longer be at our borders. Hamas will no longer control Gaza and Hezbollah will not establish itself on our northern border in positions allowing it to invade” Israel, he insisted.
But according to Israeli media, a ceasefire seems more and more likely, after the Israeli chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi, reported the “total dismantling of the chain of command” of Hezbollah .
On Wednesday, the new leader of Hezbollah, Naïm Qassem, said he was ready for a ceasefire “under conditions”, without specifying which ones.
The visit of the American emissaries also aims, according to Washington, to obtain progress towards an end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has mainly concentrated its offensive in the north since October 6, seven Airstrikes targeted Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Gaza City on Thursday, according to witnesses.
The war was triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack carried out 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 died in captivity.
Of 251 people kidnapped, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the Israeli army.
The retaliatory offensive carried out by Israel in Gaza left 43,204 dead, the majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas government's Ministry of Health, deemed reliable by the UN.
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