Israel orders strikes on Beirut suburbs as Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel

Associated Press Reporter

Israel’s government ordered strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday, a day after its ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon in 26 years, and as Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel including the outskirts of the coastal city of Haifa.

A joint statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz said that after what they called repeated violations of the ceasefire by Hezbollah and the “attacks against our cities and citizens”, they have ordered the Israeli military to attack targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs, known in Arabic as Dahiyeh.

Hezbollah agreed to halt attacks on Israel when the ceasefire was signed in mid-April but resumed after Israeli strikes in Lebanon that Israel said were self-defence.

After Monday’s warning, large numbers of people were seen fleeing Dahiyeh, jamming roads leading out of the suburb, where Hezbollah enjoys wide support.

Israeli airstrikes overnight on southern Lebanon left six people dead, including a Syrian citizen in a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, the state-run National News Agency said.

Israel struck other towns and villages near the major city, close to strategic Beaufort Castle and other towns the Israeli military captured in recent days.

The Israeli military meanwhile said the air force had intercepted two projectiles launched from Lebanon toward Israeli territory, as well as a suspicious aerial target in the area where Israeli soldiers are operating in southern Lebanon. No injuries were reported, the military said.

Hezbollah said it carried out rocket and missile attacks on northern Israel on Sunday. It said early on Monday it attacked Israeli troops in Zawtar al-Sharqieh, just north of the Litani River, and what they said was Israeli military infrastructure in Tiberius, a few dozen miles south of the border.

The latest attacks came despite a nominal ceasefire that has been in place since April 17 and just before Lebanon and Israeli hold their next round of direct talks in Washington starting on Tuesday.

Hezbollah has rejected direct talks, counting on pressure from Iran, which has demanded an end to the war in Lebanon in its talks with Washington.

Lebanese officials have been scrambling in diplomatic calls including with Washington in a desperate bid to push back Israel’s military escalation after Mr Netanyahu’s announcement, a Lebanese diplomatic official said.

Beirut is still committed to holding talks to end the conflict despite the boiling tensions, the official said, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in his weekly press briefing on Monday that Lebanon is an “inseparable part of any ceasefire and any final agreement to end the war.”

Talks between senior officials from Israel and Lebanon began in April in Washington, the first in more than three decades between the countries, which have no formal diplomatic relations.

Beirut has been mostly spared from airstrikes since the ceasefire came into effect, apart from two targeted attacks on the city’s southern suburbs in May.

Israel’s military said a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon overnight in a drone attack by Hezbollah. Hezbollah’s use of hard-to-detect fibre optic drones has been deadly for the Israeli military, which is struggling to respond.

According to Mr Netanyahu’s office, at least 26 Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon. Two civilians have also been killed in northern Israel.

At the United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that Israel’s push into Lebanon violates Lebanon’s territorial integrity and the 2006 council resolution requiring Israel to withdraw to south of the UN-drawn border with Lebanon.

Ms Pobee accused Hezbollah of violating the resolution that requires the militant group to disarm. She urged Hezbollah to co-operate with Lebanese authorities to extend their authority throughout the country.