Israeli strikes yesterday killed at least four people in Lebanon, local authorities said, and a UN peacekeeper was killed in the crossfire, despite the announcement of another ceasefire agreement.
The fighting in Lebanon threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran has demanded that any lasting truce extend to Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat. Israeli troops have seized about one-fifth of Lebanon since Hezbollah began launching rocket and drone attacks in solidarity with Iran days into the wider war.
Photo: Reuters
US President Donald Trump, who faced a rare rebuke from the US Congress on Wednesday, has sought to downplay the diplomatic deadlock and the failure of declared ceasefires to end the fighting, telling reporters that in the Middle East, “a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”
A Serbian peacekeeper was killed and two other peacekeepers were wounded when a mortar struck their location near Marjayoun, a Christian-majority town that has seen intense fighting, UN Interim Force in Lebanon and Serbia’s Ministry of Defense said.
Neither said whether the mortar fire came from Israel or Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a drone strike killed a motorcyclist and wounded four people in the village of Maaroub, while airstrikes on the village of Sohmor in the Bekaa Valley killed three people and wounded others.
It also reported airstrikes in other areas of the south.
The latest declared ceasefire came about through US brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon’s government.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the new agreement “the last chance to enter a final and comprehensive ceasefire.”
Lebanon was ready to implement Wednesday’s deal once he receives responses from relevant factions in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, he said.
The US would determine how and when the deal is implemented, he added.
The agreement states that Hezbollah “is not just an enemy of Israel and an enemy of America, but that it is an enemy of Lebanon” and calls for dismantling it.
The government has promised to do so in the past, but does not have the capabilities to disarm Hezbollah by force.
In the southern city of Sidon, Lebanon, many residents reacted to the ceasefire announcement with skepticism, saying previous agreements had failed to stop the violence.
“Every few days a ceasefire is announced, but people keep getting killed,” Mayada Hijazi said.
“It’s all talk and no action,” Salah Nassab said. “We keep going back to our homes and then we get displaced again, back and forth. We’re very tired.”
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