Funerals will be held for Lebanese officers killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, as Beirut’s army chief headed to Pakistan on a surprise visit amid ongoing mediation efforts in the wider United States-Israel war on Iran.
The Lebanese soldiers will be laid to rest on Sunday, a day after the brigadier general, captain and soldier were killed in an Israeli strike on a military vehicle on the Khardali-Nabatieh road, in an incident the Israeli army said it was investigating.
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A ceasefire agreed on April 17 was meant to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, but Israel has continued to carry out near-daily attacks, prompting retaliatory ones from the Lebanese group. The violence has taken a disproportionate toll on civilians in Lebanon, where more than 3,500 people have been killed since hostilities resumed on March 2.
A further conditional ceasefire was announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys last week in Washington, but was rejected by Hezbollah as it did not include the group or provide for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal left on Saturday for Pakistan, which has emerged as a central mediator between the US and Iran.
The visit is notable given the insistence by Washington – and by Lebanese leaders, including the president – that ceasefire talks for Lebanon remain separate from the US-Iran negotiations mediated by Pakistan.
Fighting continues in southern Lebanon
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks hit several towns across southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa overnight, while Hezbollah said it launched rockets, artillery fire, and drone attacks against Israeli forces, including near the Beaufort Castle in Yohmor al-Shaqif.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said on Sunday that an Israeli raid on the town of Saksakiyeh a day earlier killed at least two people. The ministry added that 22 people were wounded in the attack, including three children and a woman.
Two others were wounded following an Israeli drone attack on the town of Shahabiyeh, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Israeli air attacks also hit the town of Qalawiya at dawn, and the towns of al-Qatrani, Byblos and Rihan in the Jezzine district overnight. The town of Deir Kifa in the Tyre district was also bombed, while Barashit and Chaqra in the same district were subjected to intermittent artillery shelling overnight.
NNA also reported artillery shelling in the towns of al-Mansouri and Bayt al-Sayyad in the Tyre district.
Israeli warplanes launched an attack on the town of Srifa. Local media also reported that Israeli fighter jets attacked Dweir, near Nabatieh, north of the Litani River.
Paramedics, meanwhile, continue to look for survivors under the rubble following Israeli attacks.
“The pattern is part of what is being called the Gazafication of Lebanon, or Israel using actions normalised by the Gaza genocide,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
“The targeting of schools in southern Lebanon, just like Gaza. Bombing Lebanese hospitals and clinics, also like Gaza. And the murder of journalists. Then there’s these so-called double-tap attacks against paramedics and rescue workers. Hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese paramedics have been killed with this unlawful practice.”
Gazafication extends to the ceasefire, too, she added.
“The ‘Yellow Line’, first introduced in Gaza, has now swallowed 60 percent of the territory. In Lebanon, the ‘Yellow Line’ now includes nearly a fifth of the country. Both invisible lines keep expanding,” said Odeh.
No choice but negotiations, says Lebanese lawmaker
Najat Aoun Saliba, an independent member of Lebanon’s parliament, meanwhile, condemned Israel’s killing of the Lebanese soldiers and said President Joseph Aoun has no choice but to enter into negotiations with Israel.
“If we don’t have negotiations, what is the alternative? Is the alternative going to war? The war is not going to give us peace,” she told Al Jazeera.
Saliba said dialogue was the only viable path given the imbalance of power between Israel and Lebanon’s armies.
“The balance of power between the armies is not to be compared. Israel has a very strong army backed up by the United States. The Lebanese Armed Forces have been sidelined by a political will for 30 years, because they wanted to strengthen the presence of Hezbollah,” she said.
The lawmaker added that Hezbollah has not been able to stop Israeli aggression.
“Hezbollah is not able to stop any of these war crimes, and it’s not able to stop any of the invasions that Israel is doing. I think with … all these massacres and destruction, I don’t think we have a choice.”
The killing of Brigadier General Wissam Sabra, Captain Elie Khoury and soldier Hussein Ghozal came at a tense moment amid broader efforts to strike a deal between the US, Iran, Hezbollah, the Lebanese government and Israel.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the attack was “aimed at thwarting all efforts to reach a solution”, while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam described it as “a heinous crime and an attack on Lebanon and all Lebanese people”.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2, following joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Tehran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah a condition for any peace deal with Washington.
