At least ten strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Friday after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for buildings in Hezbollah’s stronghold.
The strikes followed a meeting on Thursday between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting US officials to discuss a possible deal to end the war in Lebanon as the death toll mounts on both sides of the border.
AFPTV footage showed explosions followed by clouds of smoke rising in the suburbs.
“The raids left massive destruction in the targeted areas, as dozens of buildings were levelled, with fires breaking out,” Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The strikes targeted the suburban areas of Ghobeiry and Al-Kafaat, the Sayyed Hadi Highway, the area around the Al-Mujtaba Complex, and the old airport road, according to the NNA.
The Israeli military has repeatedly bombarded southern Beirut in recent weeks, while also carrying out deadly strikes elsewhere in the capital and across Lebanon.
During Thursday’s talks, Israeli leader Netanyahu told US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk that any deal with Lebanon must ensure Israel’s long-term security.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also met the US envoys, stating that their discussions focused on “security arrangements in the northern arena and Lebanon, and efforts to ensure the return of 101 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.”
According to Israeli media reports citing government sources, a US-brokered plan would see Hezbollah forces retreat approximately 20 miles (30 kilometres) north of the Litani River.
Under the proposed plan, Israeli troops would withdraw from Lebanon, and the Lebanese army, along with UN peacekeepers, would then take control of the border.
Lebanon would be responsible for preventing Hezbollah from rearming with imported weapons, while Israel would retain its rights under international law to act in self-defence.
Analysts suggest that Israel’s campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah has positioned it strongly to secure a deal.
On Thursday, Israeli medics and a local leader reported seven Israelis killed by cross-border fire from Lebanon — one of the highest single-day tolls in over a year of cross-border exchanges.
Four Thai nationals in the northern Israeli town of Metula were also killed by rocket fire from Lebanon on Thursday, according to Thailand’s foreign minister.
The regional council in Metula reported that one local farmer and four foreign farm workers died in the strike.
Since fighting in Lebanon escalated on 23 September, amid tit-for-tat exchanges that Hezbollah stated were in support of Hamas, the conflict has claimed at least 1,829 lives in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally from health ministry figures.
The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF reported on Thursday that the war has caused the death of at least one child per day and injured an average of ten children daily since 4 October.
Israel’s military reports that 37 soldiers have been killed in Lebanon since ground operations began on 30 September.
The NNA reported that the Israeli army carried out strikes on Baalbek, east Lebanon’s main city, on Thursday, two hours after issuing an evacuation order. The operation reportedly left six people dead and destroyed several buildings.
The NNA also reported six additional deaths from raids on the town of Maqna, which was not included in the Israeli evacuation order.
Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem—who assumed the role after Israel killed his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah—has not explicitly linked a Lebanon ceasefire to an end to fighting in Gaza, a position previously held by the group.
“If the Israelis decide they want to stop the aggression, we say we accept, but under conditions we deem appropriate and suitable,” he stated in his first speech on Tuesday.
US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators have long sought to broker a truce and a hostage-prisoner exchange in Israel’s conflict in Gaza.
Mediators involved in ceasefire talks are expected to propose a truce of “less than a month” to the Palestinian group Hamas, a source close to the talks told AFP.
The proposal includes exchanging Israeli hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and increasing aid to the region, the source added.
However, on Thursday, senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu reiterated the group’s rejection of a short-term pause.
“Hamas supports a permanent end to the war, not a temporary one,” Nunu stated.
Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel last year triggered the ongoing conflict, resulting in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory bombardment and ground operations in Gaza have killed 43,204 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.
AFP
