BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: Zionist strikes in Lebanon killed at least 20 people on Saturday, Lebanese Civil Defence said, hours after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect, with Zionist entity saying it was responding to projectiles fired by the group. Lebanon’s National News Agency said Zionist warplanes and drones had hit multiple locations in the south and the Bekaa Valley.
A Zionist military official said Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Zionist forces in southern Lebanon overnight, prompting strikes on what the official said were “Hezbollah targets”. The Zionist military, which has occupied swathes of southern Lebanon, said in a statement that Hezbollah’s attacks constituted repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement. It said it remained committed to the truce in accordance with political directives, and would respond decisively to any attacks on Zionist civilians or troops.
Hezbollah also said it remained committed to the ceasefire but would respond to any attempt by Zionist entity to “seize territory or expand its occupation”. The group said Zionist forces attempted overnight to infiltrate the Ali Al-Taher hill area in southern Lebanon. It said its fighters engaged them, after which Zionist entity carried out airstrikes inside and outside its declared operational area.
A senior Hezbollah official said the group would not allow Zionist entity “freedom of movement” in occupied Lebanese territory, adding that resistance remained legitimate while Zionist forces remained in Lebanon. The strikes highlight the fragility of a truce intended to halt months of escalating violence, and of an interim peace deal between the US and Iran that hinges in part on an end to the conflict in Lebanon.
A Lebanese first responder checks under the rubble for a survivor at the site of a Zionist airstrike.
Deadly strikes
One of the deadliest Zionist strikes hit a three-storey residential building in the southern town of Barish in the Tyre district, killing a father, a mother and their two children, a town official said. The Lebanese army said a Zionist strike had killed a soldier on the Kfarrumman-Nabatieh road.
Zionist entity’s Arabic-language military spokesperson said calm could be achieved if Hezbollah halted what she described as hostile activity and violations of agreements. She said Zionist entity’s presence in a security zone aimed to remove threats and dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure, not harm civilians.
A US official said the truce took effect at 4 pm (1300 GMT) on Friday, and a senior Zionist official and two Hezbollah sources confirmed the agreement. Lebanon’s health ministry says 3,912 people have been killed in Zionist attacks since March 2, including medics, women and children. Zionist authorities say at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been killed.
The US-Iran understanding announced this week calls for an immediate, permanent end to military operations by the parties and their allies across multiple fronts, including Lebanon. Zionist entity, which was not part of those negotiations, has opposed provisions that it says could constrain its campaign in Lebanon.
Fighting flared anew in Lebanon on Friday, with authorities reporting 47 killed in Zionist airstrikes and Zionist entity announcing the deaths of four of its soldiers. The violence is the worst since the sealing of a US-Iran deal to halt the wider Middle East war, which was supposed to also pause fighting between Zionist entity and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported a fresh Zionist strike on the area of Jezzine in the south, soon after a US official said on Friday that Zionist entity and Hezbollah had agreed a ceasefire.
Also on Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a call that a comprehensive ceasefire must be secured in order for talks with Zionist entity to progress. The State Department, meanwhile, announced the resumption of negotiations in Washington from June 23 to 25. These discussions will provide an opportunity to “make progress toward a lasting peace”, department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
He added that during the call with Aoun, “Rubio reiterated the need to disarm Hezbollah and to re-establish control over all Lebanese territory”.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Zionist airstrikes and bombardments killed at least 47 people — including seven women and two children — and wounded 97 others in Lebanon on Friday. Video from AFPTV showed hundreds of cars packing roads in the city of Sidon as people attempted to flee southern areas. Zionist entity’s military reported “more than 150 IDF strikes in Lebanon since midnight”. – Agencies
