“It is time to reach a diplomatic solution and we welcome the diplomatic efforts deployed in this direction,” they add.
The stance came as Israel’s security cabinet meets Tuesday afternoon to discuss a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is at war with Hezbollah. The United States spoke of a close agreement, while calling for caution.
Middle East: Benjamin Netanyahu approves an agreement in principle on a ceasefire with Hezbollah, according to CNN
At a time when diplomatic efforts are intensifying, Israel is increasing bombings on the strongholds of the Islamist movement, particularly on the southern suburbs of Beirut which were targeted again on Tuesday after a call to evacuate. As of Monday, at least 31 people had been killed across Lebanon, according to authorities.
Bombings against a backdrop of ceasefire
Despite discussions for a truce, an Israeli strike targeted a building housing displaced people in the heart of Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least one person, while massive raids targeted the suburbs of the capital, a Hezbollah stronghold, according to official media.
The strike on Beirut targeted the densely populated neighborhood of Noueiri and “destroyed a four-story building housing displaced people” from the areas bombed by Israel, according to the National Information Agency (official Ani).
The Ministry of Health reported one death and ten injured in an initial report.
At the same time, consecutive strikes, the most violent since the start of the war between Hezbollah and Israel more than two months ago, target the southern suburbs, according to Ani.
Tensions in the Middle East: suspension of classes in Beirut and surrounding areas on Monday
“A ring of fire envelops the suburb,” the agency said. A thick cloud of smoke covers the neighborhoods of the southern suburbs according to AFPTV images and the explosions resonate in the capital.
The Israeli army had recently called for the evacuation of around twenty areas in the southern suburbs, sheltering according to it pro-Iranian Hezbollah infrastructures.
These strikes come as the Israeli security cabinet must decide in the afternoon on a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting the Islamist movement Hezbollah.
