Israel, Hezbollah trade attacks while US-led ceasefire talks progress
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Beirut: Israel and the Hezbollah in Lebanon traded attacks on Thursday while a ceasefire effort mediated by the US is supposedly in progress. When Israel pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs, Hezbollah targeted northern Israel, Agence France-Presse.
Meanwhile, US mediator Amos Hochstein was in Israel to talk with the administration about a ceasefire in Lebanon. He had said that such a deal is “within our grasp”.
According to AFP, the US-led mediation is a very serious attempt to end the conflict between Israel and heavily armed Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Israel killed three people in Lebanon’s southern region, some 10km away from the Israel border.
Meanwhile, a 30-year-old man was killed in Israel after shrapnel from a rocket launched by Hezbollah struck a playground in Israel’s northern town of Nahariya. Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly told the media that the Netanyahu administration is not safeguarding his or his city’s residents’ security. He added that it is not possible to live in such a situation.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that Hezbollah launched around ten rockets from Lebanon to Nahariya, and most of them were intercepted and fallen.
After two days of talks with Lebanon officials, officials, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Hochstein, left for Israel. Before he left, he had stated that there was progress towards a ceasefire. The mediation intends to end the conflict that has resulted in massive devastation in Lebanon since Netanyahu’s troops began offensive against Beirut in September.
According to reports, the casualty in Lebanon since October 2023 lies at 3,558, including militants and civilians, and most of them were killed after Israel initiated its offensive in September. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported 14 deaths on Tuesday alone. Meanwhile, Hezbollah killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
