Israeli warplanes intensify strikes across southern Lebanon despite US-mediated talks

Air raids, artillery shelling and drones target Nabatieh, Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts as 3rd round of Washington talks wrapped up Thursday

Israeli warplanes and drones intensified attacks across southern Lebanon, targeting multiple towns in the Nabatieh, Tyre, and Bint Jbeil districts, according to official media reports on Friday. The attacks come despite a third round of US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon that wrapped up Thursday after a full day of negotiations at the State Department, with negotiations set to continue Friday, a senior State Department official told Anadolu. Two rounds were held on April 14 and 23 as a prelude to peace negotiations. Israeli fighter jets struck the town of Froun in the Bint Jbeil district, while artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Qlaileh and Borj Qlaouiyeh before dawn, Lebanon’s official news agency NNA said. An Israeli drone also carried out a morning strike on an open area in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, while warplanes launched another raid on the town of Qsaybeh around 6:30 am local time. Separately, the agency reported that Israeli reconnaissance drones were flying over Beirut and its suburbs. During the night, Israeli aircraft carried out a series of strikes on the Marj al-Safa area in Choukine and on Nabatieh al-Fawqa, destroying an entire neighborhood that included the Nabatieh al-Fawqa municipality building and several residential structures. The raids coincided with heavy artillery shelling targeting the surroundings of the orphanage in Meifadoun and the outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa. Israeli forces also opened heavy machine-gun fire at Wadi al-Hujair and the vicinity of the towns of Froun and Ghandooriyeh, the report said. In the Tyre district, a drone strike overnight targeted a residential apartment in Housh Tyre, setting it ablaze and causing injuries. Israeli warplanes also launched nighttime strikes on the towns of Qana and Qleileh, the area between Sultaniyeh and Tebnine, as well as Shhour and Dbaal. Since March 2, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 2,896 people, injured over 8,824, and displaced more than 1.6 million, about one-fifth of the country’s population, according to Lebanese officials. The Israeli army continues daily strikes in Lebanon and exchanges of fire with Hezbollah despite a ceasefire that was announced on April 17 and later extended until May 17.