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BEIRUT — Israel has struck southern Beirut for the first time in six days, despite Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati saying the US had given him assurances that Israel would curb strikes on the country’s capital.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have insisted the strikes on Beirut are necessary in order to combat Iran-backed Hezbollah, who have a strong presence in the city’s south, known as Daniyeh.
The IDF posted an evacuation warning on X saying it was targeting a residential building in the Haret Hreik neighborhood that it claimed sat atop an arms warehouse.
Hours later, at least 15 people were killed on Wednesday in the southern Lebanese town of Qana, which has a history of civilian deaths during previous conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah.
The town has been the site of major casualties in the past when an Israeli artillery shelling on a United Nations compound housing hundreds of displaced people killed at least 100 civilians, including four UN peacekeepers, in 1996.
In 2006 Israeli strikes killed dozens of people, including children, in Qana when they hit a residential building they claimed housed a Hezbollah rocket launcher.
Lebanon’s Civil Defence said the bodies had been recovered from the rubble of the building, with rescue efforts still underway.
Some 2,300 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since last October, more than three-quarters of them in the past month, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Israel invaded the country earlier this month after targeted airstrikes hit Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several other of the group’s senior commanders. It has also been carrying out ground operations along the border and is accused of deliberately targeting UN peacekeeping forces in area — an allegation the IDF denies.
Israel says the strikes are necessary in order to defeat Hezbollah, who began firing rockets into Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, with whom Israel has been embroiled in conflict in the Gaza Strip for a year.
Hezbollah has said it will keep up its attacks until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, with its acting leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, saying that the group is focused on “hurting the enemy” through targeting Israel in a televised speech on Tuesday.
Kassem vowed the militant group would “defeat our enemies and drive them out of our lands” offering little hope that the group would be open to negotiating a ceasefire agreement.
Israel has also vowed to continue striking Lebanon until its citizens can safely return to communities near the border.
Although most countries, including the US, have reaffirmed their baseline support for Israel’s campaign, the country has faced mounting international criticism over the conduct of its military campaigns.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed “the absolute necessity of a ceasefire without further delay in Lebanon” and called for Israel to stop striking the country.
In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron urged Israel to put an end to targeting, which he called, “unjustifiable.” according to a statement from his office.
Netanyahu said after the call he was opposed to a unilateral ceasefire and would not agree to any arrangement that did not provide security for residents of northern Israel, or a situation that, “does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping.”
On Wednesday, the US signaled that there are limits to what Israeli actions in Lebanon it will endorse.
Speaking at a press briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller indicated that the campaign may already have strayed beyond Washington’s preferred boundaries.
“There are specific strikes that it would be appropriate for Israel to carry out, but when it comes to the scope and nature of the bombing campaign that we saw in Beirut over the past few weeks, it’s something that we made clear to the Government of Israel we had concerns with and we are opposed to.” — Euronews
