Israeli air raids have killed dozens of people in eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek region, a local official said, as a US mediator sought to advance ceasefire talks in Israel.
At least 47 people were killed and 22 others injured in the attacks, Bachir Khodr, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, said in a message on X on Thursday. Rescue operations are underway, he added.
Elsewhere in Lebanon, Beirut has been rocked by Israeli airstrikes that hit the southern suburbs a dozen times, kicking up clouds of debris in some of the most intense airstrikes ever.
The Israeli military said it carried out strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure and mitigated damage to civilians through advance warnings and other measures.
The Lebanese Health Ministry also said the three people were killed in an Israeli bombardment on the town of al-Shaaitiyah, near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.
Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Zeina Khodr said Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon coincide with a surge by neighboring Israeli ground forces seeking to advance on a strategic hill known as al- Bayyaada.
“The air attacks are aimed at disrupting supply lines so that Hezbollah cannot reinforce its troops in this area,” she said.
“What Israel is trying to do is take control of the coastal road from the border to al-Bayyaada. From al-Bayyaada, it aims to take control of the surrounding areas. At that point, they would have their sights set on the southern city of Tyre,” she said.
“Israeli forces are already using artillery in this area, which means their artillery batteries are inside Lebanon. So we are really seeing a major battle for control of this part of southern Lebanon,” Khodr said.
Israel has been bombing southern and eastern Lebanon as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut since late September, when the army intensified its conflict with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah after months of cross-border firefights.
The fighting began in October 2023, a day after Israel launched its continuing attack on Gaza, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in what it said was an act of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
At least 3,583 people have been killed and 15,244 injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October 2023, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Hezbollah, which has suffered severe blows since Israel intensified its attacks on Lebanon, continued to fire rockets into Israel, attacking Tel Aviv this week. Its fighters also face Israeli troops on the ground in the south.
Attacks by the Iran-aligned armed group have killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, including more than 70 soldiers, according to Israel.
In Israel on Thursday, a 30-year-old man was killed when rocket shrapnel struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya, Israel’s MDA medical service said.
“The Israeli government does not guarantee my safety, that of my residents, or that of people in the north (of Israel). It is not possible to live in such a situation,” Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly told Kan public broadcaster.
The Israeli army said around 10 rockets were also launched from Lebanon towards Nahariya. “Most of the projectiles were intercepted and the fallen projectiles were identified,” the army said in a statement. Channel 12 said three rockets hit the coastal city.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel, citing its correspondent, confirmed rocket fire in the direction of Nahariya and its surroundings.
American diplomatic push
U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz in Israel on Thursday, seeking an end to the fighting, days after declaring a ceasefire was “up to us.” scope” during a visit to Lebanon.
Speaking before leaving Beirut, Hochstein said he would travel to Israel to try to reach a deal if possible.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Zeina Khodr said Lebanese officials who met with Hochstein expressed “cautious optimism” about the prospect of a truce deal.
“The feeling here is that Lebanon has made concessions. He puts on the table the full implementation of UN Resolution 1701 – meaning Hezbollah would withdraw from the border – and he apparently accepts the role of the United States in enforcing that,” said Khodr.
“What is not mentioned in the draft ceasefire proposal is the disarmament of Hezbollah. Yesterday we heard the Israeli Foreign Minister say that any agreement should give Israel the right to ensure that Hezbollah does not receive weapons from Iran through Syria. So there are still major sticking points,” she added.