Full story
Beirut strike before talks
Israel carried out an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut, hitting an apartment building in Choueifat close to Beirut’s international airport, a day ahead of crucial negotiations in Washington.
The strike came as Israeli troops crossed the strategic Litani River, which the Israeli military has used as a de facto boundary, and large areas to the south remained under Israeli military control despite the Washington-brokered ceasefire in place since April 17.
In Tyre, Israeli forces pounded the coastal city and killed at least 14 people across the south, with dozens of others wounded according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and the state-run National News Agency.
The New Indian Express also said the escalation included a Hezbollah drone attack that killed one Israeli soldier in northern Israel, and it noted that this was the first attack close to the Lebanese capital since May 6, when an Israeli strike killed a military official with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in another southern Beirut suburb.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said in a statement Thursday that he has been following "with deep pain and profound concern" the ongoing Israeli attacks on Tyre.
Evacuation orders and quotes
The BBC reported that at about 14:00 (11:00 GMT) the Israel Defense Forces said it had struck Beirut in a "targeted manner" and would give further details later, after earlier urging residents to move north of the Zahrani River about 40km (25 miles) from the Israeli border.
In Tyre, the BBC said rescue and recovery crews had to stop because conditions remained "too dangerous" and workers received calls from the Israeli military warning them to evacuate the area.
The BBC also reported that shelters in Sidon had reached full capacity, with the head of the municipality telling the BBC there was no space remaining for newly displaced people.
In Sidon, an Israeli drone struck an apartment building housing displaced families, killing five people and wounding 21 others including five children, according to the Daily Pioneer and the Associated Press-linked reporting.
The Daily American Republic quoted Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemning the attacks on Tyre and Nabatiyeh as "onslaughts" and calling the ongoing displacement "collective punishment."
Displacement and diplomatic stakes
The BBC said the escalation threatens to derail talks aimed at ending the war between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, and it reported that Iran insists that any deal must also cover Lebanon.
The BBC added that Hezbollah has dismissed the talks and that the scale of displacement is straining the wider region, with the later evacuation order for areas south of the Zahrani River covering about 300 towns and villages.
The New Indian Express reported that Lebanese and Israeli military officials are set to hold their first security talks on Friday in the U.S. capital, and it said Israeli government spokesman David Mencer described Netanyahu’s instruction as ordering the military "to deepen our operation in Lebanon."
In the same reporting, Mencer said Israel would continue U.S.-mediated negotiations with Lebanon in Washington, saying the talks aim to disarm Hezbollah and reach "a peace agreement that will strengthen security and stability in our region and promote prosperity and peace."
The BBC quoted Agnes Dhur, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Lebanon, warning that the situation in the country’s south was "nearing a perilous tipping point" as hostilities created conditions "untenable for civilians."
