Group demands total withdrawal of troops from the south of the country; offensive has already left more than 3,500 dead and worsens the humanitarian crisis in the region
Israel launched new attacks this Friday (5) in southern Lebanon and issued evacuation orders in several cities in the region, after the .
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2, triggered by Israeli and American attacks on Iran on February 28, when Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity following the death of Iran’s supreme leader.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,526 people since March. On the Israeli side, 27 soldiers and one civilian contractor died.
This conflict makes negotiations between Washington and Tehran difficult, which demands a complete ceasefire in Lebanon as part of any possible agreement, and has also strained relations between the United States and Israel.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump criticized his ally and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and endangered negotiations with Iran.
After two days of negotiations in Washington, representatives of the Israeli and Lebanese governments agreed to a ceasefire.
However, the pro-Iran Hezbollah movement, which wields considerable influence in Lebanon, rejected the deal and demanded a comprehensive ceasefire and Israel’s complete withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Since the start of the war with Iran, Israel has carried out its deepest incursion into Lebanese territory in two decades.
Israeli army Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee on Friday warned residents of several cities in southern Lebanon, a historic Hezbollah stronghold that frequently launches attacks on northern Israel from there.
“Anyone who is near Hezbollah operatives, their facilities, or their weapons is putting their life in danger!” Adraee posted on X.
NNA, Lebanon’s official news agency, reported a mass displacement of people in three of the affected villages and an attack on one of them.
‘Freedom to kill’
During the night, Israeli airstrikes killed seven people in the Lebanese city of Tireaccording to a Lebanese Civil Defense source who spoke to AFP. Four people died near Jabal Amel Hospital and three others in a residential area.
“I was in the hospital room where my mother was admitted when there was a strong explosion. She had already miraculously escaped the first attack [na segunda-feira]when I was in the ICU,” Marwan Ghorayeb, a retired security forces officer, told AFP.
“My house in the village was destroyed, my house in Tire too; we had nothing left but the clothes on our backs,” he added.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qasem rejected on Thursday (4) the ceasefire announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys in Washington, which stipulated that the group would stop its attacks against Israel.
“The ceasefire must be global (…) without the Israeli enemy having the freedom to kill,” declared Qasem, and urged the Lebanese government to put an end to “the farce and humiliation of so-called direct negotiations” with Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that the army “will continue its air and ground operations (…) as long as it continues to dismantle terrorist infrastructure.”
He also stated that Israeli forces are “free” to attack Beirut, the Lebanese capital, if Hezbollah attacks Israeli communities.
Meanwhile, the UN doubled its appeal for humanitarian aid for Lebanon this Friday, bringing the value to US$640 million (R$3.2 billion).
“Repeated displacement, insufficient accommodation capacity and limited prospects for safe return exacerbate vulnerability,” stated the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
