Israel kills three in Lebanon as Rubio praises progress in Washington talks
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have continued despite a ceasefire, with three people killed during a strike on a car in the south of the country, as senior Israeli and Lebanese officials meet for a final day of talks in Washington.
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), three people were killed on Thursday, and one was wounded after the Israeli attack hit a car on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun in Nabatieh Governorate.
NNA also reported that Israeli forces burned a number of houses in the town of Ain Arab, after issuing warnings forcing residents to evacuate the town before 5pm on Wednesday.
According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, since the conflict began on March 2 , 4,230 people have been killed and 12,179 others have been wounded.
Reporting from Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remains “fragile” as the Israeli army continues to target “anyone or anything in front-line villages”.
“[These are] villages on the outskirts [of the] city of Nabatieh, which lie along the area which is under Israel’s occupation,” Khodr explained. “So the message is they don’t want people to approach that area, there’ve been drone strikes, they’ve dropped stun grenades … people killed.
“Those villages, the Israeli army was not able to occupy them during weeks of fighting and it wants to still be able to control them by fire because the more territory you control, the more leverage you have in negotiations,” she said, adding that officials from Lebanon and Israel are discussing the possible and gradual handover of territory.
Israel and Lebanon have been discussing a United States-backed proposal for the past three days, with the talks wrapping up in Washington, DC, on Thursday. The negotiations have been focused on Israeli forces handing over some of the territory they occupied during the fighting with Hezbollah to Lebanon’s military.
A US State Department official told the Reuters news agency that Israel had taken a “concrete step” towards the proposal, which had been part of the latest round of talks, by pulling back from a part of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
However, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer also told reporters on Thursday that Israel “will not withdraw our forces from southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains a threat, is not disarmed and demilitarised.”
When asked about ongoing Israel-Lebanon talks, Mencer said: “We are making extremely clear that our responsibility is to our northern citizens and to the whole of Israel, and we will not allow any terrorist force anywhere near our border – which means that any redeployment of forces comes after, not before, but after the demilitarisation of southern Lebanon and the disarming of Hezbollah”.
Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, also said on Thursday that Israel opposed withdrawing from the “security zone” in Lebanon, adding the military would remain in what he called “security zones” in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza for as long as necessary.
Moreover, a senior Lebanese military official also told Reuters that developments on the ground in recent days had shown the “opposite of a pullback”.
Still, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon were making good progress towards a “commitment of intent”.
“I think we are very close in our hopes of getting a commitment of intent between the two countries,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Bahrain.
“It’ll be a process, it’ll take some time, it’ll take a lot of work, but I can tell you that for the first time in 30 years, the sovereign government of Lebanon is speaking to the government of Israel directly.”
A joint statement from the US and Gulf nations on Thursday also supported the ongoing Israel-Lebanon talks and said those negotiations should not be conditional on the outcomes of other conflicts, adding that all non-state armed groups should be disarmed.
Under US pressure, Lebanese officials began direct talks in April with Israel in Washington.
Hezbollah, however, has condemned the Lebanon-Israel talks, demanding the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon first.
Read the full story at Al Jazeera ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
Israeli military operations continued in southern Lebanon on Thursday, resulting in three deaths from a strike on a vehicle near Nabatieh. Simultaneously, senior Israeli and Lebanese officials concluded talks in Washington on a US-backed proposal involving potential Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory. US State Department confirmed Israel took a step to pull back from part of a buffer zone. Israel's government stated it will not fully withdraw forces while it views Hezbollah as a threat requiring disarmament. Lebanese military sources reported ground developments showed no pullback. US Secretary of State Rubio characterized talks as making progress toward a commitment between the countries. The conflict that began in March has resulted in over 4,200 deaths and 12,000 wounded according to Lebanese health authorities.
Read the full story at Al Jazeera ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have continued despite a ceasefire, with three people killed during a strike on a car in the south of the country, as senior Israeli and Lebanese officials meet for a final day of talks in Washington.
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), three people were killed on Thursday, and one was wounded after the Israeli attack hit a car on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun in Nabatieh Governorate.
NNA also reported that Israeli forces burned a number of houses in the town of Ain Arab, after issuing warnings forcing residents to evacuate the town before 5pm on Wednesday.
According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, since the conflict began on March 2 , 4,230 people have been killed and 12,179 others have been wounded.
Reporting from Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remains “fragile” as the Israeli army continues to target “anyone or anything in front-line villages”.
“[These are] villages on the outskirts [of the] city of Nabatieh, which lie along the area which is under Israel’s occupation,” Khodr explained. “So the message is they don’t want people to approach that area, there’ve been drone strikes, they’ve dropped stun grenades … people killed.
“Those villages, the Israeli army was not able to occupy them during weeks of fighting and it wants to still be able to control them by fire because the more territory you control, the more leverage you have in negotiations,” she said, adding that officials from Lebanon and Israel are discussing the possible and gradual handover of territory.
Israel and Lebanon have been discussing a United States-backed proposal for the past three days, with the talks wrapping up in Washington, DC, on Thursday. The negotiations have been focused on Israeli forces handing over some of the territory they occupied during the fighting with Hezbollah to Lebanon’s military.
A US State Department official told the Reuters news agency that Israel had taken a “concrete step” towards the proposal, which had been part of the latest round of talks, by pulling back from a part of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
However, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer also told reporters on Thursday that Israel “will not withdraw our forces from southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains a threat, is not disarmed and demilitarised.”
When asked about ongoing Israel-Lebanon talks, Mencer said: “We are making extremely clear that our responsibility is to our northern citizens and to the whole of Israel, and we will not allow any terrorist force anywhere near our border – which means that any redeployment of forces comes after, not before, but after the demilitarisation of southern Lebanon and the disarming of Hezbollah”.
Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, also said on Thursday that Israel opposed withdrawing from the “security zone” in Lebanon, adding the military would remain in what he called “security zones” in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza for as long as necessary.
Moreover, a senior Lebanese military official also told Reuters that developments on the ground in recent days had shown the “opposite of a pullback”.
Still, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon were making good progress towards a “commitment of intent”.
“I think we are very close in our hopes of getting a commitment of intent between the two countries,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Bahrain.
“It’ll be a process, it’ll take some time, it’ll take a lot of work, but I can tell you that for the first time in 30 years, the sovereign government of Lebanon is speaking to the government of Israel directly.”
A joint statement from the US and Gulf nations on Thursday also supported the ongoing Israel-Lebanon talks and said those negotiations should not be conditional on the outcomes of other conflicts, adding that all non-state armed groups should be disarmed.
Under US pressure, Lebanese officials began direct talks in April with Israel in Washington.
Hezbollah, however, has condemned the Lebanon-Israel talks, demanding the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon first.
Read the full story at Al Jazeera ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
Three people were killed and one wounded on Thursday after an Israeli strike hit a car on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun in Nabatieh Governorate Israeli forces burned houses in Ain Arab after issuing evacuation warnings Since the conflict began on March 2, 4,230 people have been killed and 12,179 others have been wounded according to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remains fragile Israeli army continues to target anyone or anything in front-line villages to maintain territorial control and leverage in negotiations A US State Department official stated Israel took a concrete step by pulling back from part of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon Israeli government spokesman David Mencer stated Israel will not withdraw forces from southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains a threat and is not disarmed and demilitarized Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel opposed withdrawing from security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza A senior Lebanese military official told Reuters that recent developments showed the opposite of a pullback US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Israel and Lebanon are making good progress toward a commitment of intent Direct talks between Lebanon and Israel began in April under US pressure Hezbollah condemned the talks and demanded full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon first
Read the full story at Al Jazeera ↗ · Al Jazeera ↗
- Three people killed in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon despite ceasefire, with Israeli forces continuing operations in border villages
- Israel-Lebanon ceasefire described as fragile; Israeli and Lebanese officials concluding three-day Washington talks on potential territorial handover
- US Secretary of State Rubio reports progress toward commitment between countries; Israel maintains it will not withdraw until Hezbollah disarmed and demilitarized