Israel has launched more than 50 strikes on Lebanon in the past 24 hours, raising fears that escalating violence could derail the fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran, rekindling a broader regional conflict.
Lebanon’s national news agency said one person was killed and another wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the southern town of Hanawiya on Friday. The agency also reported that Israeli forces destroyed residential areas in Aita al-Shaab, with additional attacks on al-Majadel in the Tire district.
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Al Jazeera’s team on the ground reported that Israeli forces blew up houses in the town of Hanein in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese group Hezbollah responded by firing rockets toward settlements in northern Israel, including Kiryat Shmona, Metula and Misgav Am. “These attacks will continue until Israeli-American aggression against the country and people stops,” the fighters said in a statement posted on Telegram.
Despite rising tensions in the south, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reported on relative calm in Beirut following Israel’s massive attack on Wednesday. At least 300 people were killed and about 1,000 others were injured.
“What we have seen in the last 24 hours is that the pace of Israeli attacks has slowed down, at least in the Beirut area,” Khodr said.
“Yes, there is still military activity in the south of Lebanon, but there has actually been a significant reduction in attacks in Beirut – whether it was intentional or not. But the Israeli media are making it clear, and quoting Israeli officials, that there is US pressure on the Israeli government to de-escalate this conflict in Lebanon.”
The pressure to end the conflict comes amid food security warnings from the United Nations World Food Programme.
“What we are seeing is not just a displacement crisis, it is rapidly becoming a food security crisis,” said Alison Oman, WFP’s Lebanon country director, speaking via video link from Beirut on Friday.
He warned that food was becoming increasingly out of reach due to rising prices and increasing demand from displaced families and supply routes disrupted by the Iran war.
Diplomatic efforts halted
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he ordered direct talks with Lebanon “as soon as possible.” However, diplomatic efforts appear to be limited.
Lebanon intends to attend a meeting with US and Israeli representatives in Washington next week to discuss and declare a ceasefire, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters news agency on Friday. Beirut considers this a prerequisite for further negotiations to reach a comprehensive agreement with Israel.
But a senior Lebanese source told Anadolu news agency that talks are planned in Washington Will be preliminary.
“The meeting to be held at the US State Department next week is preparation, not a negotiation,” the source said.
The latest violence began on February 28, days after Israel and the US launched war on Iran. On 2 March, Hezbollah attacked Israel, after which Israel launched an air campaign and ground campaign in southern Lebanon.
Human losses are continuously increasing. The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, warned that the increasing attacks were having a “devastating and inhumane impact on children”.
“As news of a regional ceasefire agreement brought hope across the country, deadly Israeli airstrikes hit Lebanon, reportedly killing 33 children and injuring 153,” the agency said on Thursday.
“More than 600 children have been killed or injured in Lebanon since March 2 in the latest bloodshed,” it said, adding that it had received reports of children missing, separated from their families and pulled from under the debris.
UNICEF said the more than one million people displaced included about 390,000 children.
Human Rights Watch He said Israeli attacks had destroyed critical infrastructure in the south, including bridges over the Litani River.
“Between March 12 and April 8, Israeli forces systematically destroyed or seriously damaged all the main bridges connecting areas south of the Litani River with the rest of the country,” the group said. Only one main crossing is operational, the group said.
