Lebanon16 August, 20263 min read
Israel Kills Hezbollah Commander in Lebanon Strikes That Kill 11, Including Three Children
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Senior Hezbollah commander Abu Hassan Alaa was killed in Deir al-Zahrani strike. Eleven killed in southern Lebanon strikes, including three children and several civilians.
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Weekend strikes in south Lebanon
Israeli strikes on the south of Lebanon killed 11 people, including three children, and wounded 19 others in Ansar and Deir al-Zahrani, as Lebanese authorities and the Lebanese Ministry of Health described the attacks as among the deadliest since deals in June eased hostilities. The ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Israel said the raids hit the central headquarters of the Radwan Force and were in retaliation for an attack by the Iran-backed militant group on its troops in Lebanon's south.
In Haaretz, Amos Harel wrote that the escalation in southern Lebanon over the weekend left three IDF soldiers seriously wounded and 11 Lebanese killed, including a local Hezbollah commander, and that Americans requested clarifications from Israel. The BBC said Israel’s Defense Forces confirmed it killed a commander of Hezbollah after an attack against Israeli soldiers, and it described the commander’s family as present and “harmed” while Israel said the family “who he used as human shields” were not the target.
Condemnations and negotiation pressure
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attacks, saying the seven civilians killed were not "military infrastructure" and warning, "Israel must halt this escalation," while the BBC reported Hezbollah dismissed Netanyahu’s "false claims" and said Lebanese civilians "were deliberately targeted in their homes". Hezbollah said the Israeli attacks would be met with an “appropriate response,” and it urged Lebanese authorities to abandon what it calls “humiliating” direct negotiations and to stop relying on US mediation, according to Al Jazeera’s report from Ansar.
In Haaretz, Amos Harel linked the escalation to American requests for clarifications from Israel, describing the weekend violence as involving three IDF soldiers seriously wounded and 11 Lebanese killed, including a local Hezbollah commander, along with his wife and children. The France 24 report, citing Reuters, quoted Doron Spielman, international spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, saying the strikes would "tighten up" negotiations and that he thought it would make talks “more serious and more real”.
What comes next for the talks
The BBC said the June ceasefire framework calls for Hezbollah to disarm, Israeli forces to withdraw gradually from southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese army to deploy across the area, while it added that Lebanese and Israeli negotiators were set to meet for an eighth round in September but a final date had not been set. France 24 reported that the framework leaves Israeli troops inside occupied southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed and the Lebanese army takes control, terms Hezbollah rejected as surrender, and it noted that Israel’s military seized a swathe of southern Lebanon earlier this year.
In ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Israel’s military said its strikes were in retaliation for an attack by Hezbollah on its troops in Lebanon's south, and it said Israel and Lebanon were set to hold an eighth round of US-sponsored negotiations early next month in Rome. Al Jazeera’s report said Lebanese officials warned of repercussions of the escalation on the negotiation path, while Hezbollah stated that the assaults “will be answered accordingly,” and it quoted Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri calling the two Israeli massacres in Ansar and Deir al-Zahrani “complete a war of extermination in the south.”