Israeli Air Strike Kills Six in Harouf as Israel and Lebanon Extend Ceasefire

An Israeli air strike on a town in southern Lebanon killed six people, including three paramedics, according to Lebanon's health ministry, as the US said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 45-day ceasefire extension.

“Beirut, Lebanon – A new round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will take place on Thursday and Friday to save a fragile ceasefire – repeatedly ignored by Israel – which is set to expire on Sunday”

Al Jazeera

The health ministry said a fourth paramedic sustained "critical injuries" after a civil defence centre was attacked in the town of Harouf, and the BBC said it had contacted the Israeli military for comment.

Al Jazeera

The BBC also reported that on Wednesday Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli air strikes had killed 22 people, including eight children, across the south.

The BBC said the conflict started on 2 March, two days after the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, and that at least 2,896 people have been killed in Lebanon since then, according to the health ministry.

The BBC added that Israeli authorities say 18 soldiers and four civilians have been killed over the same period, while Israel says it is aiming to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon to thwart future Hezbollah attacks.

A new round of Israel-Lebanon negotiations is set to take place on Thursday and Friday in an effort to save a fragile ceasefire that is set to expire on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera said Lebanon is divided over direct talks, with President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam supporting direct negotiations, while Hezbollah and their allies, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, prefer indirect talks.

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Al Jazeera reported that Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem delivered a statement saying his fighters "will respond to the aggression and violations" and that Hezbollah "will not return to the pre-March 2nd status quo".

Al Jazeera also said Israel continued to intensify its attacks across Lebanon despite the ceasefire, including a Wednesday strike in which eight people, including two children, were killed when Israeli drones targeted vehicles travelling along a key road linking southern Lebanon to Beirut.

The BBC said Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam hoped to "mobilise all Arab and international support to bolster our position in the negotiations" with Israel, as the US said it would "reconvene the political track of negotiations" in June.

Israel's push to expand control in southern Lebanon has been framed as creating a buffer zone, with AFP reporting that Israel announced soldiers were taking control of "new positions" in the south and aiming to create a "buffer zone" between "our population and any threat".

“Lebanon says six killed in Israeli strike as US announces ceasefire extension An Israeli air strike on a town in southern Lebanon has killed six people, including three paramedics, according to Lebanon's health ministry”

BBC

Sud Ouest said Lebanon's army says it has disarmed Hezbollah in the south between the Litani River and the Israeli border about 30 km away, while Lebanese authorities said nearly 90,000 people have already been displaced as Israeli incursion and evacuation calls weigh on hundreds of thousands living south of the Litani.

Sud Ouest reported that Israel plans to take control of a zone 10 to 15 km deep, citing a diplomatic source in Beirut, and said AFP's David Wood described establishing this buffer zone as "fairly feasible".

The BBC said more than one million people, amounting to one in five of the population, have been forced from their homes across Lebanon, most of them from the south, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and Dahieh in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Sud Ouest warned that as Israeli troops advance, "the risk that they encounter guerrilla-type resistance from the inhabitants of these regions increases," and said Hezbollah's leader Naïm Qassem stressed it would face "the Israeli-American aggression."