A man was killed yesterday, Wednesday, in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, the country’s Ministry of Health announced, in the first operation of its kind since September, with the Israeli military later stating that it had targeted two “suspects” because they were “observing” its units.
An unmanned aerial vehicle targeted a motorcycle in the community of Kambriha, killing one person and wounding another, according to the Lebanese official news agency ANI.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The Israeli army subsequently announced that “it struck two suspects who were observing” its soldiers “in the Kamriha area, outside” the sector it occupies in southern Lebanon and refers to as a “security zone.”
Israel’s airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon since March have resulted in the deaths of more than 4,300 people, according to Beirut, as part of Israel’s new war against the Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement.
The scale of hostilities has subsided since late June, following the signing of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding—which, however, subsequently fell apart— and the framework agreement between the governments of Israel and Lebanon under U.S. auspices, a document that provided for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli armed forces on the condition that Hezbollah be disarmed and that the Lebanese army be deployed, initially in “pilot” zones in the southern part of the country.
Although the violence appears to have subsided, the implementation of the so-called framework agreement has been slow.
In September, 13 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a village in the Nabatieh district, while the Israeli armed forces continue to occupy a large strip of land in southern Lebanon, where they are engaging in systematic destruction, according to Lebanese authorities.
During a visit yesterday to Israeli troops in the border town of Khiam, in southeastern Lebanon, the Chief of the Israeli General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, emphasized that his forces “will not allow Hezbollah to establish terrorist infrastructure in the area.”
Also yesterday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned of the danger that the country could be dragged into a new war should the bombings against Iran resume—a statement that apparently referred to Hezbollah.
The Shiite movement is accused by its political opponents of dragging the country into the war in the region by launching attacks on March 2 against Israel to support Iran, in the midst of the U.S.-Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic.
“I reiterate my warning against the dangers of dragging Lebanon into a new reckless adventure in the service of foreign interests,” the prime minister continued.
“We will not accept the country being turned once again into a theater of war for others,” Mr. Salam added, insisting that Lebanon “has already paid a heavy price.”
In recent days, media outlets have reported on a possible new, brief but intense military operation against Iran following the U.S. midterm elections, following a series of bellicose statements from U.S. and Israeli political leaders.
Source: KYPE
