Lebanon accuses Israel of refusing ceasefire after new strikes

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 since the start of the week on this stronghold of the Islamist movement.

The Lebanese news agency Ani reported at least 10 strikes, preceded by calls to evacuate, which caused strong explosions and released thick clouds of smoke.

These strikes reduced entire buildings to ruins, a few hours after a visit to Jerusalem by two American emissaries to try to find a solution to the war that has been raging since September between Israel and Hezbollah, supported by Iran.

“The extension, once again, of the aggression of the Israeli enemy against the Lebanese regions (…) and the fact that it has once again targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids, are so many indicators which confirm its refusal of all efforts made to obtain a ceasefire,” declared Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

The raids, the first in this sector since October 27, caused “massive destruction” and razed “dozens of buildings”, according to Ani.

In the morning, bulldozers began to clear mountains of rubble, according to AFP images.

Bombings also targeted the town of Baalbeck, in eastern Lebanon, as well as the areas of Aley, east of Beirut, and Bint Jbeil, in the south, according to Ani.

Israel is continuing its offensive against Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, in the Gaza Strip, the north and center of which were targeted by deadly strikes on Friday.

The war that has been raging since October 7, 2023 in the Palestinian territory has spread to Lebanon, where Israel launched a campaign of massive airstrikes on September 23, mainly targeting Hezbollah strongholds in the southern suburbs of the capital, as well as in the south and east of the country.

At least 1,829 people have been killed since that date across 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 60,000 inhabitants of the north of its territory, displaced by incessant rocket fire since the start of the war in Gaza.

A few days before the presidential election in the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Thursday in Jerusalem with American envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, who then left for Washington according to an informed source.

According to Israeli media citing government sources, the envoys carried a plan providing for a withdrawal of Hezbollah from the border areas of southern Lebanon, as well as the withdrawal of the Israeli army from this region, control of which would return to the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.

But Israeli officials said the soldiers, engaged in a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since September 30, would not withdraw before an agreement that would meet Israel's security demands.

Benjamin Netanyahu 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.

On Wednesday, the new leader of Hezbollah, Naïm Qassem, said he was ready for a ceasefire “under conditions”, without specifying which ones.

“The morgue is full”

In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has mainly focused its offensive since October 6 on the north, where it claims that Hamas is seeking to gather its forces.

According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, nighttime strikes on houses left nine people dead in Jabalia, in the north, and Nousseirat, in the center of the territory.

“The morgue of Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah”, in central Gaza, “is full of bodies, mostly children and women”, after the strikes in Nousseirat, said the director of field hospitals for the ministry, Marwan al-Hams.

The Israeli army announced that it had killed “dozens of terrorists” since the day before during air and ground operations in the Jabalia sector, and killed “armed terrorists” in central Gaza.

She added that she had targeted “more than 200 targets” of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

A leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Taher al-Nounou, reiterated on Wednesday the refusal of a “temporary truce”, after the announcement by an informed source that the mediating countries, Egypt, the United States and Qatar, were preparing to propose a truce “of less than a month” in the territory.

The war in the Gaza Strip 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, mainly 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.