Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
Israel launched deadly strikes against Lebanon on August 5 after two of its soldiers were killed in a suspected attack in the south of the country, a stronghold of Hezbollah.
The soldiers were reportedly killed, another critically wounded and several others injured when an improvised explosive device exploded inside a booby-trapped building in the town of Majdal Selem, according to Al Jazeera.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has not yet acknowledged the casualties. However, it announced after the explosion that it had begun carrying out what it described as “precise strikes” across southern Lebanon, saying the attacks were launched in response to a “blatant violation of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organization”.
The military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Capt. Ella Waweya, also issued renewed forced displacement orders for residents of al-Mansouri, urging them to head north before further strikes.
One of the Israeli strikes that targeted southern Lebanon hit the roof of a cemetery prayer hall in the town of Tibnin, killing one person and injuring 12 others, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
The latest incident was the most serious since the start of the framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon in late June.
Under the agreement, Israel and Lebanon committed to the disarmament of Hezbollah, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the south of the country in test areas known as “pilot zones”.
Last week saw an escalation with a drone strike allegedly carried out by Hezbollah targeting an Israeli unmanned bulldozer near the Ali Taher ridge in southern Lebanon. The IDF responded by blowing up a tunnel of the group beneath the nearby Beaufort ridge.
The second day of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon concluded in the Italian capital, Rome, on August 4. The talks are expected to continue in coming days, as Beirut pushes for a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and an end to Israeli strikes.
Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected direct talks with Israel and has refused to surrender its weapons. On August 3, the group’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem said that the talks would bring “nothing but shame, humiliation” and successive concessions for Lebanon.
Further escalation by Israel in Lebanon is to be expected, especially as the country does not appear to be keen on actually implementing the agreement brokered by the United States.
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