Israel strikes southern Lebanon as Hezbollah condemns new deal
Israeli air strikes in Lebanon have killed one person, the country's health ministry said, a day after the two countries signed a deal aimed at
Israeli air strikes in Lebanon have killed one person, the country's health ministry said, a day after the two countries signed a deal aimed at paving the way to a lasting peace. Lebanon's state news agency said an Israeli drone hit the southern town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and later reported further strikes in the area, with at least two more people wounded. The Israeli military said it carried out the drone strike on an individual who posed a threat to its forces, without providing details. The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group - which was not involved in negotiating Friday's US-brokered agreement - rejected it and accused the Beirut government of undermining Lebanon's sovereignty.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the agreement reached in Washington "historic" and "a blow to Iran and Hezbollah". Under the four-point framework, Israel will withdraw its forces from the South Litani area, with the Lebanese army taking exclusive control of the vacated territory. But Israeli forces are permitted to remain in an expanded security area in southern Lebanon. On Saturday Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem accused the Lebanese government of making damaging concessions. "The framework agreement in Washington is humiliating, shameful, and a surrender of sovereignty. This agreement is null and void," he said. Qassem criticised provisions linking Israel's withdrawal to the group's disarmament, saying they crossed "all red lines". He accused Lebanese authorities of committing a "grave blunder" which "may even lead to the annexation of these lands", and vowed that Hezbollah would continue its armed resistance.
Later on Saturday Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces had been ordered to "prepare for an extended stay in the security zone" - referring to an area up to 10km (six miles) inside Lebanese territory. Lebanon was pulled into the conflict on 2 March, when Iran-backed Hezbollah launched missiles into Israel in retaliation to an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south. Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 4,192 people since the current round of hostilities began, according to the Lebanese health ministry. More than 11,600 have been injured, and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced, Lebanon says.
Israel say 36 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border. A US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on 16 April failed to stop the fighting. Israel and Lebanon agreed in June to renew their fragile ceasefire, and the US said it would help guide the creation of "pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors".
The BriefWire