Lebanon Demands Full Israeli Withdrawal as Israel Intensifies Strikes on Hezbollah

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Resistance and Liberation Day that Lebanon “will not accept the reality of occupation and will not compromise with it,” calling a complete Israeli withdrawal a “firm and non-negotiable national demand.”

Aoun said the path toward full withdrawal would be pursued through negotiations that “will not be a concession or a surrender,” and he added that the Army would continue to be “the sole guarantor of national security and territorial integrity.”

Al Jazeera

The anniversary commemorates May 25, 2000, when Israeli forces withdrew from the south of the country, and the day is being marked as Israeli attacks continue and Lebanon’s southern villages remain under renewed occupation.

In parallel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to intensify strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon to “crush” the armed group, and the Israeli military said it launched attacks on Hezbollah infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley and several other areas shortly after his comments.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that the escalation announcement sparked an exodus of people from the southern suburbs of Beirut, a major Hezbollah stronghold, as Liberation Day was observed.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem criticized “continuous concessions of the Lebanese Government,” calling for the Executive Power to “reverse its decisions against the resistance and support its people.”

Qassem also said, “Where is the sovereignty if America runs the cogs of the Lebanese state?,” as he reiterated opposition to direct talks with Israel and refusal to disarm while attacks continued in south Lebanon and across the border.

Al Jazeera

Aoun, in a statement commemorating the 2000 withdrawal, said “Israeli attacks have not stopped, and our dear southern villages are still suffering under a renewed occupation,” and he said the path to a full withdrawal would remain “an uncompromised, constant national demand.”

The Arab News account also said Lebanon and Israel began US-brokered talks last month and were preparing for a fourth round in early June, preceded by a meeting between military delegations at the Pentagon on May 29.

In the same period, Israeli officials framed the escalation as a response to Hezbollah’s actions, with the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, saying “the Israel Defense Forces are compelled to operate against it with force.”

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said Israel has killed 3,185 people since it entered a state of open war with Hezbollah on March 2, as Israeli strikes continued during the Liberation Day period.

The Al Jazeera report described specific violence tied to the escalation, including four people killed and three injured in the town of Kfar Reman in the Nabatieh district, and strikes that damaged residential buildings and a Shia Muslim community centre in the al-Midan neighbourhood in the city of Nabatieh.

NNA said Israeli aircraft dropped incendiary phosphorus munitions on the forests of the Qlailah municipality, causing fires in citrus groves and on farmland, and the report noted that phosphorus munitions ignite upon contact with oxygen.

In parallel, Israeli warnings directed residents to evacuate, with the Israeli military telling people in 10 villages to move at least 1,000 meters away from their towns and villages ahead of expected strikes.

The same reporting said Netanyahu told the Israeli military not to take its “foot off the gas,” adding “On the contrary, I said to step on the gas even more,” as the offensive order came during ongoing daily strikes on southern Lebanon.