Joseph Aoun Says Security Agreement Must Come Before Meeting Netanyahu

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said an “security agreement” must be reached before raising the issue of a meeting with Netanyahu, and his office said “the timing is not appropriate now to meet” the Israeli prime minister. Aoun also affirmed “there is no retreat from” the decision to enter negotiations with Israel, while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed the need to extend the state's control over the entire Lebanese capital. The Al Arabiya report says Israel continues to strike despite a ceasefire extension announced by U.S. President Donald Trump after direct talks that brought Lebanon's and Israel's ambassadors to Washington and began to take effect on April 17. In parallel, the Lebanese army said its units “carried out immediate security measures in the Kaifa'at area - the southern suburb, including raids, armored patrols, and the establishment of provisional checkpoints” after gunfire during funeral ceremonies.

“- Published In the southern suburbs of Beirut, the neighbourhood of Hay el Sellom is barely recognisable”

BBC

Le Monde reported that a few hours after the announcement of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, about a hundred bombardments hit central Beirut neighborhoods, its southern suburb, and towns and villages in the east and south of Lebanon. Civil defense reported 254 people dead while the Health Ministry mentioned 182 dead, and Rizk Hospital’s chief physician Karl Jallad said, “We have received many children, torn apart and disemboweled, amputated or with head injuries.” RFI said Lebanon declared on Thursday a day of national mourning after the death of at least 254 people and nearly 1,160 injured according to Civil Defense, and it quoted Anthony Samrani describing “100 strikes in ten minutes” that were “not preceded by a warning.” Samrani also said the Israeli strikes are “completely criminal,” adding that hospitals were “packed” as ambulances arrived all day.

In the BBC’s account of Hay el Sellom in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Mohammed described an Israeli air strike that caused “The three floors above mine all fell into one room… on top of him,” and he said, “Nothing will bring back my son.” The BBC reported that the death toll for the day reached 361 according to Lebanese authorities, with more than 1,000 injured, after about 100 targets across Lebanon were hit in the space of just 10 minutes, according to Israel. Radio France reported that Israel urged residents of several neighborhoods in southern Beirut to evacuate again, and it quoted EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas saying the attacks “put the ceasefire to the test.” Radio France also quoted political scientist Amélie Ferey saying there is “a will to create a buffer zone between the border and the Litani River,” while Israel’s ambassador to France Joshua Zarka insisted, “These are not bombings of civilians.”

“War in the Middle East: At least 17 people killed in Israeli bombings in Lebanon”

Le Dauphiné Libéré