News Screen – Israeli military attacks again rocked the southern and eastern regions of Lebanon on Sunday, amid a ceasefire that is still in effect in the conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah group.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 11 people were killed in an attack in the Sir al-Gharbiyeh area on Saturday. The dead included a child and six women, while nine others were reported injured, including four children and a woman.
Lebanese state media reported Israeli attacks also occurred in a number of other areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Sunday. Several attacks are said to have caused casualties and damage to civilian facilities.
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Before the attack took place, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning covering more than a dozen villages in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley region.
AFP correspondents reported that large plumes of smoke were seen rising in the Nabatieh and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah areas after the air strikes. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s civil defense agency said its regional facilities in Nabatieh were destroyed by the overnight attack.
An AFP photographer also saw civil defense officers evacuating equipment and oxygen cylinders from the rubble of damaged buildings. Until this news was published, the Israeli military had not provided an official statement regarding the attack.
On the other hand, Hezbollah claims to continue carrying out attacks on Israeli military targets in the southern Lebanese border area, including rocket attacks on Sunday against Israeli troops said to be operating in Lebanese territory.
This latest tension occurs amidst growing hopes of reaching an agreement between Iran and the United States to end the widespread conflict in the Middle East region.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said major changes were taking place in the region. He said Iran linked the agreement with the United States to ending the war in Lebanon.
Previously, Hezbollah also stated that its leader, Naim Qassem, received a message from Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, regarding Iran’s latest proposal emphasizing the importance of including Lebanon in a regional ceasefire agreement.
The Lebanese government itself is currently undergoing direct talks with Israel under the mediation of the United States. However, Beirut emphasized that these discussions remained separate from negotiations between Iran and the United States.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has heated up again since Hezbollah launched a rocket attack on Israeli territory last March in response to the assassination of Iran’s top leader in a joint US-Israeli operation.
Under the terms of the ceasefire announced by Washington, Israel is said to have the right to take action against threats of attacks that it considers to be planned or underway.***
