21 killed in wave of heavy Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon

The US State Department expressed optimism about the path of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, the fourth round of which was held on Tuesday evening, June 2, with the participation of the delegations of the two countries.

In a statement, it spoke of achieving "continuous political and security progress" that seeks to overcome the failures of the past two decades and reach "a comprehensive agreement that restores Lebanon's sovereignty and guarantees Israel's security."

In  the same context, the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, confirmed that the ceasefire (announced on Monday evening, June 2nd) "is still in effect until now", revealing that US President Donald Trump is following up on the file and that he has communicated with Ambassador Nada Mouawad in this regard, "without any channels of communication with Hezbollah", which reiterates its rejection of direct negotiations and sees it as a "concession".

Trump said on Monday evening that he had had a fruitful call with high-ranking Hezbollah officials, without naming them, before announcing a ceasefire agreement had been reached and Israel had agreed not to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Salam: Negotiations are the least expensive option

Following the start of a round of negotiations in Washington,  Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed in an official statement that Beirut's absolute priority and main goal is to "stabilize the ceasefire in all of Lebanon."

He considered that the negotiations represent "the least expensive option for the Lebanese", and that unification under the roof of the state contributes to shortening the path towards ending the Israeli occupation and returning the displaced to their villages and cities in the south.

There was no immediate comment or response from Hizbullah to this statement.

21 killed in wave of heavy Israeli shelling in the south

The Israeli army carried out 89 violent attacks on various areas in southern Lebanon, killing 21 people and wounding 23 others, and extensive destruction of infrastructure and residential homes.

The Israeli military operations were distributed among 65 airstrikes, 22 artillery and tank shelling, in addition to blowing up operations and field incursions , where Nabatieh was hit by 38 airstrikes and 14 artillery shells. A raid on the town of Al-Dweir resulted in the destruction of houses and the death of an entire family (a father, mother, their daughter and another person).

A dentist and two of his sons were also killed when their car was targeted on the Nabatieh-Khardali road, and the areas of Nabatieh witnessed the killing of foreign workers (Bangladeshi and Syrian) and elderly people as a result of drone strikes that targeted cars, motorcycles and civil defense centers.

In the districts of Sur and Bint Jbeil,  Israel targeted the  towns of Burj al-Shamali, al-Hosh, al-Mansouri and Shahur with 17 airstrikes, killing two people and wounding 14 others, including medics in Burj al-Shamali, while the district of Bint Jbeil witnessed 8 raids focused on the towns of Tebnin and al-Ghandouriya.

Bombing operations, alarms and storming a Christian neighborhood in Tyre

In addition to aerial and artillery bombardment, the Israeli escalation has taken on different dimensions on the ground through forced relocations and ground incursions, as the Israeli army issued an urgent warning to evacuate the entire city of Nabatieh and demanded that its residents move to the north of the Zahrani River.

In the city of Tyre, Israeli forces infiltrated the Christian neighborhood following threats to displace its residents on the grounds that there was activity by Hezbollah elements inside it, accompanied by the dropping of light bombs in the skies of the Ras al-Naqoura Sea and the intensive and continuous flight of reconnaissance drones over the town of Bayut al-Sayyad, leading to a low flight of drones over the capital, Beirut.

This intense ground and air attack comes at the same time as Israeli forces carried out extensive blowing and bombing operations on entire neighborhoods and shops in the towns of Dibin and Balat in the Marjayoun district, in implementation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's threats to deal "severe blows" to paralyze Hezbollah's capabilities and movements in the area.