Israeli Attacks Across Lebanon Kill At Least 24 Despite U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire

Israeli attacks across Lebanon killed at least 24 people despite a United States-brokered ceasefire that was in its third week, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

“Israeli attacks across Lebanon have killed at least 24 people despite a United States-brokered ceasefire, now in its third week”

Al Jazeera

The ministry said an Israeli attack on the town of al-Saksakieh in the southern Sidon district killed at least seven people, including a child, and wounded 15, including three children.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that there were no signs of a ceasefire on the ground as the death toll from Israel’s “violent strikes” throughout the day “keeps rising,” with reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon.

The Al Jazeera account also said that later on Saturday Lebanese state media reported additional air attacks on several towns across southern Lebanon, with no immediate information about casualties.

The same Al Jazeera report said that since April 16, Israeli forces have killed nearly 500 people, bringing the overall death toll since Israel’s invasion and bombardment of Lebanon began on March 2 to more than 2,750 people, according to the Health Ministry.

The intensified attacks came a day after the U.S. announced it would mediate a second round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon on May 14 and 15, despite demands by Lebanese authorities that Israeli forces cease strikes before any talks.

The U.S. Department of State said the negotiations in Washington, DC would advance “a comprehensive peace and security agreement that substantively addresses the core concerns of both countries,” and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun received former Ambassador Simon Karam, who is leading the Lebanese delegation for the talks.

American Jewish Committee (AJC)

Al Jazeera reported that Hezbollah, which is not included in the U.S.-mediated talks, continued to attack Israeli positions, including artillery shell attacks on Israeli positions in Biyyada and Rachaf and a drone attack in the border town of Misgav Am.

The group also claimed to have targeted a D9 bulldozer belonging to the Israeli army in al-Abbad town, while the Israeli army said explosive drones entered Israeli territory and that air defences intercepted multiple projectiles launched towards troops operating in southern Lebanon.

In parallel, Al Jazeera said drones launched by Hezbollah detonated in northern Israel near the Lebanese border, wounding at least three Israeli soldiers.

The Britannica profile of Abbas al-Musawi says he was a Lebanese Shiite Muslim cleric and secretary-general (1991–92) of Hezbollah, the Party of God, and that he was killed by an Israeli helicopter strike on his motorcade.

“Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article”

Britannica

It adds that Musawi helped to form Hezbollah in 1982 as an effort to resist the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and to promote Shiite interests in that country, and that he publicly denounced the 1983 bombing attacks in Beirut after he became secretary-general.

The AJC primer frames Hezbollah’s role within Iran’s broader support network, stating that the U.S. State Department described Iran as the “foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” providing “a range of support, including financial, training, and equipment, to [terrorist] groups around the world – particularly Hezbollah,” according to the U.S. State Department.

The AJC piece also says the State Department estimated that Iran funneled more than $700 million to Hezbollah in 2020, and that in 2011 the Quds Force directed a foiled assassination attempt on Adel al-Jubeir, the then-Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., at a Washington D.C. restaurant.

Against that backdrop, Al Jazeera’s account of ongoing Israeli strikes and displacement orders—along with the U.S.-brokered talks scheduled for May 14 and 15—places Lebanon’s immediate security and civilian toll at the center of the next phase of negotiations.