Lebanon urges intl. action after Israel kills, injures dozens despite truce

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji has contacted several Arab and other foreign officials and urged international pressure on the occupying Tel Aviv regime after at least seven people were killed and 40 injured in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon.

According to a statement from the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Rajji held talks with Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot, as well as Deputy US Envoy for Middle East Peace Morgan Ortagus, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Syria Engagement in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Natasha Franceschi.

The ministry said the calls “were part of diplomatic efforts to contain the escalation in southern Lebanon, and were made in coordination with (Lebanese) President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.”

Rajji urged the officials to apply pressure on Israel to “end its aggression and escalation and contain the dangerous situation along the southern border.”

The talks came after the Lebanese Health Ministry said five people, including a child, were killed and 11 injured in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Touline in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon.

In the towns of Housh al-Sayyid and Saraain in eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, Israeli airstrikes left six injured.

Moreover, an Israeli drone strike targeted a parking area in the al-Raml neighborhood of Tyre on Saturday evening, injuring four people.

The Lebanese Health Ministry added that a strike on the town of Yohmor al-Shaqif in the Nabatieh province injured one person, while two others were wounded in an aerial raid on Kfarkila region.

The attacks came after Israel alleged that Metula settlement in the Galilee region was hit by a rocket attack originating from Lebanon, prompting Israeli forces to launch airstrikes on several villages and towns in southern Lebanon.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on Metula.

President Aoun censures Israeli attempts to drag Lebanon into fresh cycle of violence

President Joseph Aoun decries attempts to drag Lebanon into a fresh cycle of violence, after two people were killed and ten others wounded in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.

After enduring substantial losses over almost 14 months of conflict and not achieving its aims in the offensive against Lebanon, Israel had no choice but to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah. This ceasefire was implemented on November 27.

Since the initiation of the agreement, the occupying forces have been conducting almost daily attacks on Lebanon, violating the ceasefire, which encompasses airstrikes across the Arab nation.

On January 27, Lebanon declared its decision to prolong the ceasefire with Israel until February 18.

Despite the February 18 deadline having passed, Israel persists in its occupation of five critical areas in southern Lebanon, which include Labbouneh, Mount Blat, Owayda Hill, Aaziyyeh, and Hammamis Hill, located near the border.

Lebanon has denounced the ongoing presence of Israeli military personnel, which constitutes a breach of the ceasefire agreement and the stipulated withdrawal timeline. High-ranking officials in Beirut have stated their intention to “employ all measures” necessary to expel the occupying forces from the Arab country.

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