Israel attacked in central BeirutImage Credit Source: PTI
The Israeli army again carried out airstrikes across Lebanon on Monday. There were explosions across the country and at least 12 people were killed. While Israeli leaders appeared to be getting closer to a ceasefire through talks with the terrorist group Hezbollah. The Israeli strikes hit commercial and residential buildings in Beirut, as well as the port city of Tyre. Military officials said they targeted areas believed to be Hezbollah strongholds. He gave orders to evacuate the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The attack came as officials indicated they were close to an agreement on a ceasefire, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet prepared to discuss a proposal on the table. At least 12 people were killed in the airstrikes. Israeli airstrikes devastated Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israel issued evacuation warning
The explosions damaged buildings and left broken glass and debris scattered on nearby streets. There were no injuries as many residents fled the attacked places. Some of the attacks took place near central Beirut and near Christian neighborhoods and other targets where Israel had issued evacuation warnings, including the provinces of Tire and Nabatieh. Israeli airstrikes also hit the northeastern Baalbek-Hermel area without warning.
More than 3,700 people died in Lebanon
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Monday that at least 12 people were killed in the attacks in Tire province, raising the death toll to more than 3,700 in Lebanon since Israel began the offensive two months ago. Many of those killed since the war between Israel and Hezbollah began were civilians, and health officials said some of the recovered bodies were so badly damaged that DNA testing would be required to confirm their identities.
12 lakh displaced people
Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Lebanon’s Health Ministry says 1.2 million people have been displaced due to the war. The new round of airstrikes came just weeks after Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon in early October, encountering stiff resistance in a narrow strip of land near the border.
Hezbollah fired a missile at Israel
The military has previously traded cross-border attacks with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which began firing rockets into Israel the day after the war in Gaza began last year. Lebanese politicians condemned the ongoing airstrikes and said they are obstructing the attacks. US-led ceasefire talks. The vice president of the country’s parliament accused Israel of increasing bombing to pressure Lebanon to make concessions in indirect ceasefire talks with Hezbollah.
Israel and Hezbollah close to an agreement!
Ilyas Boussab, an associate of the terrorist group, said Monday that pressure has increased because we are close to the decisive moment to reach a ceasefire. Hopes for a ceasefire rise. Israeli officials expressed similar optimism about the prospects for a ceasefire on Monday. The country’s ambassador in Washington, Mike Herzog, told Israeli Army Radio that same day that several points still needed to be finalized. Although any deal would require government agreement, Herzog said Israel and Hezbollah were close to reaching an agreement.
Netanyahu’s security cabinet today
Israeli officials have said the two sides are close to an agreement that would include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters from Israeli borders. But there are still many sticking points. Two Israeli officials said Netanyahu’s security cabinet had scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, but said it was unclear whether the cabinet would vote to approve the deal. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal discussions.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said on Monday that he hoped there would be phases of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah and that leaders would discuss it on Monday or Tuesday. Still, he warned, this won’t happen overnight. After earlier hopes for a ceasefire faded, U.S. officials warned that negotiations were far from over and signaled that last-minute hurdles could emerge that would delay or destroy the deal.
They call for a two-month ceasefire
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that nothing will be done until everything is done. The proposal being discussed to end the fighting calls for an initial two-month ceasefire, during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence on the southern border south of the Litani River.
Hezbollah is violating the conditions.
The withdrawal will also be accompanied by an influx of thousands of Lebanese army troops, who have been largely sidelined during the war, to patrol the border area alongside existing UN peacekeepers. Western diplomats and Israeli officials said Israel sought the right to attack Lebanon if it believed Hezbollah was violating the terms. The Lebanese government has said such a system would authorize a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
The war escalated after the Hamas attack
The ceasefire could be a step toward ending the regional war that escalated after Hamas-led militants launched attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people. Most of them were civilians and another 250 were kidnapped. The lack of a ceasefire has become a political liability for Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, especially as 60,000 Israelis remain far from their homes in the country’s north after more than a year of cross-border violence.
Hezbollah rockets have reached Tel Aviv, southern Israel. At least 75 people have been killed in this attack, more than half of whom are civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers were killed in a ground attack in Lebanon. The Israeli military said that about 250 projectiles were fired on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.
war between israel and iran
The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Iran’s strongest armed proxies, is expected to largely calm regional tensions, which have raised fears of an open, large-scale war between Israel and Iran. It is unclear what impact the ceasefire will have on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not accept a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ended, but abandoned this condition.
The agreement with Lebanon is a big mistake
Although this proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu puts it to a vote in his security cabinet. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hardliner, said he would oppose it. He said in X that an agreement with Lebanon would be a big mistake and that a historic opportunity to eliminate Hezbollah would be lost. Speaking at the G7 meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, the last such summit before US President Joe Biden leaves office, Safadi said such a failure would “derail the future of the region with more conflict, more killings and more destruction.” for.
