Lebanonupdated 50m ago2 min read
Israeli Forces Shell Haddatha, Mansouri, and Kfar Shouba in Southern Lebanon
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Israeli artillery and airstrikes hit Haddatha, Al-Mansouri, and near Kfar Shouba in southern Lebanon. Attacks occurred from midnight Friday to Saturday morning, with shells and demolitions reported.
Attacks across southern Lebanon
Israeli artillery shelling targeted the towns of Haddatha and Al-Mansouri, Wadi Al-Salouqi near Shaqra, Wadi Al-Hujair near Touline, Wadi Zibqin, the outskirts of Kfar Shouba and Maifadoun, and the forest of Ayta Al-Jabal from midnight Friday until Saturday morning, according to Al-Manar correspondents. Israeli warplanes struck the town of Mansouri in the Tyre district, while Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Bint Jbeil and the valleys of Srebbine and Zibqin, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency as cited by Anadolu Ajansı.
Israeli military bulldozer activity advanced toward the southern outskirts of Kfar Shuba, with the bulldozer accompanied by two tanks and several vehicles, Anadolu Ajansı reported. Al-Manar also reported that an Israeli Merkava tank targeted an area between Haddatha and Ayta al-Jabal, and that Israeli occupation forces directed machine-gun fire toward Ayta Al-Jabal and the outskirts of Kfar Shouba, including fire from the Ramtha position.
Diplomacy and competing claims
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asked the United States to urge Israel to end the attacks in southern Lebanon during a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidential palace.
Aoun told Washington to urge Israel to cease deforestation activities, facilitate farmers’ access to their fields, and stop actions against them, and he said there is no third way between war and negotiation.
Anadolu Ajansı said Israeli attacks have continued despite a US-sponsored “Framework Agreement” signed by Beirut and Tel Aviv on June 26, which calls for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the deployment of the Lebanese army.
The New Arab said talks are due to resume in Florida on 20 October, while it described reconstruction as being in limbo as airstrikes, shelling and demolitions continued across Lebanon despite the June framework agreement.
Casualties and reconstruction pressures
Lebanese government figures released Monday, as cited by Anadolu Ajansı, said Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 4,389 people and injured 12,424 others since March 2. Vietnam.vn also cited Lebanese authorities saying that since March 2 the attacks have killed at least 4,386 people, wounded 12,413, and displaced more than one million.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Qatar would help Lebanon revive its struggling economy by rehabilitating its crumbling electricity sector and supporting the future reconstruction of the country’s south, after meeting in Beirut with Lebanon’s counterpart Nawaf Salam. The New Arab said Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam estimated the total cost of Israel’s wars on Lebanon could exceed $27 billion, and it reported that around $70 million had been earmarked for projects in the south by the end of the year, depending on the security situation amid continuing Israeli attacks.