5 killed, including a child, in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon
On Saturday, May 9, 5 Lebanese were killed in a series of attacks carried out by Israel on various areas of southern Lebanon, according to official Lebanese statements, in Nabatieh, Israeli airstrikes targeted a man and his child, and in the district of Tyre, a car was targeted on the road between Abbasiya and Borj Rahal, killing 3 people.
Several towns in the south witnessed Israeli aerial and artillery shelling during the past hours, causing extensive injuries and material damage.
Direct clashes in al-Bayada border
In the city of Bint Jbeil, Israeli forces carried out blow-ups on houses in the Al-Jabana neighborhood, in continuation of the demolitions that have affected dozens of houses since the start of the escalation.
Direct clashes broke out between Israeli forces and Hezbollah elements in the border town of al-Bayada, while the Israeli army fired flares over villages in the western and central sectors.
Hezbollah targeted two IDF vehicles in the town of Rashaf Basaliya with rockets and artillery shells, and also confronted a drone in the airspace of Abbasiya with a surface-to-air missile, a statement issued today.
In a statement issued this morning, the Israeli army said that it will launch attacks in southern Lebanon, calling on residents to stay at least one kilometer away from some border areas, stressing that Hezbollah fired several rockets at its forces south of the "front defense line", without causing any casualties.
Third round of negotiations on May 14 and 15
The escalation on the Lebanese front comes as Beirut and Tel Aviv are preparing to hold a new round of direct negotiations in Washington, where an official Lebanese source said on Friday, May 8, that the third round of direct negotiations with Israel under the auspices of the United States will be held at the headquarters of the US State Department between May 14 and 15.
The source explained that "a delegation headed by former Lebanese ambassador to the United States Simon Karam will visit Washington to attend it, and that the date of its appointment is "up to the US State Department."
In addition, US sources say that work is underway to hold a new round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel next Thursday and Friday in Washington.
For his part, the Lebanese Minister of Information confirmed that the matter of negotiations was not discussed during a cabinet session, stressing that there is coordination on this at the presidential level.
Lebanon: We are not going to a peace agreement
In this context, media quoted an informed source as saying that Lebanon is not moving towards signing a peace agreement, but rather the maximum path is the restoration of rights in exchange for a non-aggression agreement, pointing out that the Lebanese presidency has informed Washington that the meeting now with Netanyahu may lead to the aborting of stability efforts.
During a meeting with journalists in the capital Beirut on Wednesday (May 6), the Lebanese prime minister said that Lebanon "does not seek normalization with the occupying state, but rather to achieve peace," adding that "our minimum demands is a timetable for the withdrawal of the occupation, and we will develop a plan to limit weapons to the state."
He said that "this is not the first time that Lebanon has engaged in direct negotiations with the occupation," noting that "the stabilization of the ceasefire will form the basis for any new round of negotiations that may be held in Washington."