Israel Strikes Southern Lebanon After Forced Evacuations, Killing Six

Israel ordered forced evacuation orders for nine villages in southern Lebanon before strikes that killed six people on Friday, a day after Hezbollah rejected a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

“Israel has continued to carry out deadly strikes across Lebanon despite the announcement of a new US-brokered ceasefire agreement reached by Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington, DC”

Al Jazeera

Thousands fled their homes after the Israeli military said it would soon operate against what it said were Hezbollah targets in Anqoun, a village hosting at least 2,500 displaced people, and the roads leading to Sidon were choked with cars as families sought shelter.

Al Jazeera

The Israeli military carried out airstrikes across wide areas of south Lebanon, including Anqoun, with drone strikes hitting cars in the Nabatieh area while airstrikes and artillery pounded Kfar Tebnit, adjacent to Beaufort Castle, which Israeli troops seized this week.

Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said on Friday: "Lebanon can no longer be a field for wars fought for others, nor can the south [of Lebanon] and its peoeple continue to pay the price for decisions they did not make."

The fighting came after Hezbollah attacked Israeli troops in southern Lebanon with rocket barrages near the castle, according to a statement by Hezbollah, as Israel advanced further toward the city of Nabatieh, now deserted but normally one of the largest in south Lebanon.

Hezbollah rejected the renewed ceasefire agreed by Israel and Lebanon, with its leader Naim Qassem saying negotiations had been "futile" and "humiliating" for Lebanon.

The BBC reported that the ceasefire renewal was tied to "pilot" security zones inside Lebanon where Hezbollah operatives would be banned, and that it required Hezbollah to stop attacking Israel.

AP News

In the BBC’s account of street-level reaction in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a storekeeper named Sami said, "You cannot have a ceasefire from one side, it's going to be an all side or no ceasefire."

The BBC also quoted Hezbollah’s leader as describing the arrangement as surrender, saying it would fulfil Israel's objectives, while Donald Trump later told reporters, "I think you're going to see things happen over there" after speaking to Hezbollah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The agreement between Israel and Lebanon, the BBC said, was contingent on the "evacuation of all [Hezbollah] operatives" from an area between the Israeli border and the Litani river, about 30km (19 miles) to the north, currently occupied by Israeli ground forces.

As the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire dispute continued, the U.N. more than doubled its aid appeal for Lebanon to nearly $640 million over six months, warning that "The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is severe and deteriorating."

“Hezbollah rejects renewed ceasefire agreed by Israel and Lebanon In a strongly worded statement, the Iran-backed group's leader Naim Qassem said negotiations had been "futile" and "humiliating" for Lebanon, and rejected categorically by "broad segments of the Lebanese people"”

BBC

CBS News said the revised appeal from OCHA warned that "Repeated displacements, insufficient shelter capacity and limited prospects for safe return are deepening vulnerability," and it described essential services as under increasing strain.

CBS News also reported that the aim was to reach all of the 1.4 million people in Lebanon—around a quarter of the population—estimated to need humanitarian assistance, after noting that only $185 million had so far been received out of the initial appeal.

In parallel, the AP reported that Hezbollah rejected the latest ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government and demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as more fighting there hampered efforts to end the Iran war.

The AP added that Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem called the negotiations "absurd, humiliating and insulting," while Israeli strikes killed at least four people and a U.N. peacekeeper was killed in the crossfire.