Lebanese leaders on Monday, May 11, urged the United States to pressure Israel to stop its shelling of several regions in the country. The attacks have continued despite a ceasefire theoretically in place since April 17.
The latest toll from Israeli strikes, updated Monday by the Lebanese health ministry, stands at 2,869 deaths since the beginning of the war between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah and Israel on March 2. Dozens of people have been killed since the ceasefire took effect.
President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam separately met with US Ambassador Michel Issa in preparation for new discussions scheduled for May 14 and 15 in Washington between Lebanon and Israel.
President Aoun “insisted (…) on the need to pressure Israel to stop the shooting, end military operations, and halt the demolition and razing of houses,” according to a statement from the presidency.
Nawaf Salam, on the other hand, asked the diplomat to “put pressure on Israel to stop the ongoing attacks and violations, in order to strengthen the ceasefire,” according to his office.
Israeli Soldier Killed near Lebanon
Israel escalated its strikes over the weekend and on Monday issued a call to evacuate nine Lebanese localities, seven in the south and two in the east of the country. The state news agency reported strikes on several villages in those regions.
AFP correspondents witnessed bombings in several southern localities and plumes of smoke rising from targeted sites. Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces and Hezbollah are exchanging fire daily, mainly in southern Lebanon, where Israel controls a strip of about 10 km depth starting from the border.
The pro-Iranian Hezbollah claimed attacks against the Israeli army in Lebanese territory on Monday. A soldier “fell in combat” Sunday near the Lebanon border, the Israeli army announced Monday, with its losses totaling 18 soldiers and one civilian contractor killed since the start of the war.
Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into a new war with Israel on March 2 by attacking its sworn enemy with rockets to avenge the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed on the first day of the Israeli-American offensive against Tehran. Israel responded with massive strikes and a ground incursion into the south.
“We are now facing the occupation of 68 Lebanese localities as a result of this war that was imposed on us,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in an interview with Al-Arabiya on Sunday evening.
