Lebanon's president has urged the United States to put pressure on Israel to cease fire and stop home demolitions in south Lebanon, the presidency said on Monday, as the death toll from Israeli attacks rose. Lebanon's health ministry said 74 people had been killed by Israeli strikes in the last three days despite a truce announced last month in fighting between Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Israeli military, a spokesperson said. Tehran said it had demanded security for Lebanon as part of a proposal for ending the wider war with the US and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran's proposal.
The Hezbollah-Israel conflict reignited on March 2 when the group opened fire at Israel in support of Tehran. Hostilities have continued since Trump declared a ceasefire on April 16, mostly in south Lebanon, where Israel is occupying a self-declared security zone, saying it aims to guard against Hezbollah attacks. The Lebanese health ministry spokesperson said the victims since Saturday had been killed in various Israeli strikes, including one that killed at least seven people in the southern town of Saksakiyeh.
It said 2,869 people had been killed since March 2, including 584 medics, women, and minors. Its toll does not say how many combatants are among the dead. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in a meeting with US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, "stressed ... the necessity of pressure on Israel to halt fire and military operations and the destruction and bulldozing of homes," the presidency said. (Ed note: Oh my, are those big bad IDF troops beating up on poor Hezbollah again? Have you ever noticed how both Hamas and Hezbollah attack Israel, and when the IDF strikes back, it's the most terriible thing? Also note the fact that both Hamas and Hezbollah are using the civilian population as human shields?) (Read More)
