New Israeli air strikes have killed more people in southern Lebanon a day after 200 people died, as the bombardment raises further doubts over the fragile United States-Iran ceasefire that Tehran says includes Lebanon.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Thursday that an Israeli strike on the town of al-Abbassieh killed at least seven people and wounded several others, with the total expected to rise.
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A wave of attacks by Israeli warplanes struck towns, including Kafra, Jmaijmeh, Safad al-Battikh, Majdal Selem and Deir Antar near Qasmiyeh bridge. Artillery shelling damaged the town of Haris.
Separately, the Lebanese army said in a statement that four of its soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said it carried out overnight strikes in Beirut, claiming the killing of Ali Yusuf Harshi, a close aide to Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem. Hezbollah has not commented on the claim. Israel also said it targeted crossings over the Litani River and what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure.
The scale and intensity of the attacks point to a broader campaign that continues despite the two-week ceasefire agreement announced between Washington and Tehran.
Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos, relaying comments from President Joseph Aoun after a cabinet meeting on Thursday, said Lebanon condemns “all the aggressions committed by Israel” and is working to ensure it is included in the US-Iran ceasefire.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian separately warned that Israeli strikes on Lebanon violate the ceasefire agreement and would render negotiations with the US meaningless. Pezeshkian added that Iran would not abandon the Lebanese people.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Lebanon is “an inseparable” part of the ceasefire, warning that violations would bring severe consequences.
‘Hezbollah is really in a difficult situation’
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said, “Hezbollah is really in a difficult situation.”
“It entered the war in retaliation for the killing of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei,” she said.
“But since then, it has said it is doing this because of the ongoing Israeli aggressions. That is why it is launching attacks across the border and preventing the Israeli army from occupying territory in southern Lebanon.”
On Thursday, Hezbollah said it had carried out four attacks targeting Israeli sites and forces in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, in retaliation for repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
The Israeli army said Hezbollah fired around 30 rockets at northern towns on Thursday.
Hezbollah has insisted that the ceasefire deal between the US and Iran should include the Lebanon front.
Day of national mourning
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, 203 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, with more than 1,000 wounded across Lebanon, including the capital, Beirut.
Lebanon’s prime minister declared a national day of mourning on Thursday, ordering public offices to close and flags to be lowered in tribute.
Hezbollah called the continued strikes a violation of the US-Iran deal, and responded with rocket fire.
Washington has openly backed Israel’s position that Lebanon falls outside the scope of the ceasefire, a stance that has further eroded confidence in the deal.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart … over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them, and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” US Vice President JD Vance said.
Iranian officials have pushed back, warning that continued attacks in Lebanon undermine the basis for negotiations. Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf said the conditions for talks had already been breached, describing further negotiations as “unreasonable”.
He cited ongoing Israeli strikes, a reported drone incursion into Iranian airspace, and US opposition to uranium enrichment as important violations.
As strikes hit Beirut without warning, sending residents scrambling for safety, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk described the scale of killing as “horrific”.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said: “We strongly condemn these massive strikes which, in 10 minutes, killed more than 250 people, adding to the 1,500 victims of this conflict initiated by Hezbollah against Israel on March 2.
“And these attacks are all the more intolerable as they undermine the temporary ceasefire that was reached yesterday between the United States and Iran,” he added.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed at least 1,739 people and wounded 5,873 people.