Israeli strikes kill at least 19 across Lebanon despite US-mediated ceasefire
Al Jazeera Staff
Israeli strikes across Lebanon killed at least 19 people on Saturday, the Health Ministry said, despite a US-mediated ceasefire now in its third week but not fully observed. The deadliest attack hit al-Saksakieh in Sidon, killing seven including a child. The violence came as the US announced a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon in May.
Lebanon's Health Ministry reported Saturday that Israeli attacks across the country had killed at least 19 people, even as the US-mediated ceasefire entered its third week without full compliance.
The deadliest attack struck the southern town of al-Saksakieh in Sidon district, killing at least 7 people, including a child, and wounding 15 others, among them 3 children.
Other attacks in Nabatieh claimed the lives of a Syrian man and his daughter; in Nahrain, Saadiyat and Haboush, three died in each location; and one person was killed in Mefdoun.
According to the Health Ministry, Israeli forces have killed nearly 500 people since April 16, bringing the total death toll since Israel launched its invasion and bombardment of Lebanon on March 2 to more than 2,750.
The Israeli military continues to issue evacuation orders for residents of multiple towns, maintains an occupied buffer zone in southern Lebanon, blocks hundreds of thousands of displaced people from returning home, and destroys homes in the area.
An Al Jazeera correspondent in Tyre, southern Lebanon, reported no sign of a ceasefire on the ground as the death toll from intense Israeli airstrikes kept rising. State media later also reported further airstrikes on several towns in the south.
The intensified attacks follow the US announcement of a second round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon scheduled for May 14-15 in Washington, despite the Lebanese government's demand that Israel stop its attacks before talks begin. The US State Department said the talks aim to advance a comprehensive peace and security agreement addressing core concerns of both countries.
On the same day, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun received former Ambassador Simon Karam, who leads the Lebanese delegation to the talks, and issued directives ahead of the Washington trip.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah — which is not party to the US-mediated talks — continued to strike Israeli positions. On Saturday, the group claimed artillery fire on Israeli positions in the towns of Biyyada, Rachaf and Misgav Am, along with a drone attack. Hezbollah also said it targeted an Israeli army D9 bulldozer near the town of al-Abbad.
On the Israeli side, the military said multiple explosive-laden drones entered Israeli territory, some crashing to the ground; air defense intercepted several rockets fired at soldiers operating in southern Lebanon. A day earlier, a Hezbollah drone exploded in northern Israel, wounding at least three Israeli soldiers.
