Israel does not care about the ceasefire and continues to escalate in southern Lebanon

The Israeli occupation forces continued their escalation on the ground in southern Lebanon, flouting the ceasefire decision announced yesterday by US President Donald Trump.

According to Lebanese media sources, the Israeli forces continued their bombardment of towns in southern Lebanon, and the facts on the ground strengthened the fears of the political circles that the south was deliberately excluded from the effects of the agreement, creating a new reality according to which the capital Beirut and its southern suburbs were neutralized in exchange for leaving the border villages to their fate under the weight of the Israeli fire belts.

Doctor and his children killed in Israeli raid on the south

The Lebanese National News Agency indicated that the occupation army carried out a series of airstrikes and intensive artillery shelling targeting the towns of Dibin, Shawkin, Barashit, Balat, Marwaniya, Al-Haniya, and Ghandouriya, in conjunction with extensive explosions that destroyed entire residential neighborhoods in Arideh Dibin and reached Sidon.

A raid by an Israeli drone on the Nabatieh-Khordali road led to a humanitarian catastrophe represented  in the death of  dentist Dr. James Karam and his two university students inside the fence of their charred car while returning from Saida, while the Civil Defense teams of the "Islamic Message" scouts recovered the wounded from under the rubble of a destroyed house in the Al-Hosh area of Sur.

Nabih Berri moves and Netanyahu sticks to operations

Politically,  the Speaker of the Lebanese House of Representatives, Nabih Berri, considered that US President Donald Trump is the only international figure currently capable of concluding a real ceasefire and committing the Israeli side to it.

Berri stressed Hezbollah's openness to a real and comprehensive cessation of operations regardless of whether the deal is tied to or separated from Iran, criticizing the Tel Aviv administration, which "wants to negotiate under fire," which is costing Lebanon dearly, in terms of the blood of its civilians and its infrastructure.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the continuation of the planned military operations in the south, indicating that he explicitly informed Trump that the calm in Beirut is conditional on the cessation of the party's strikes.

For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz stressed that Washington will not prevent Israel from intervening in the north, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for a complete rejection of American pressure.

On the other hand , Hezbollah responded militarily by targeting the "Merkava" tank in Yahmar al-Shuqaif, and announced the detonation of two sets of explosive devices with an armored force accompanied by a bulldozer that tried to advance for the eighth time towards the town of Hadatha, inflicting losses in the ranks of the enemy's vehicles.

UN Security Council discusses Israeli aggression

The corridors of the United Nations Security Council in New York witnessed an emergency and stormy session last night, as the Assistant Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Martha Bobby, warned that the Israeli incursion north of the "Blue Line" and the transformation of the areas into a battlefield destroys the understandings of last April 16 and is a flagrant violation of UN Resolution 1701.

For his part, the Lebanese delegate, Ahmed Arafa, stressed that Israel is exploiting the tense regional climate to impede the rise of the state and the extension of its legitimate authority, calling for an end to the policy of impunity.

The French envoy, Jérôme Bonafon, described the Israeli incursion as a grave strategic mistake that will not achieve security for Tel Aviv, considering the raising of the Israeli flag over the historic Shuqif Fortress overlooking the Litani River as a worrying return to an unacceptable past era, while at the same time holding Hezbollah responsible for dragging the country into war, and demanding its disarmament as part of a permanent solution.

Guterres puts forward 3 options for UNIFIL's future

UN Secretary-General António Guterres presented a report to the  Security Council, stressing the need to maintain a UN military presence in Lebanon as a complement to the enhanced political role and support for the Lebanese Armed Forces after the end of the current mission in late 2026.

Guterres put forward three structural scenarios for the number and nature of troop deployment to allow for ceasefire monitoring and support for Lebanese government deployment along the 120-kilometer Blue Line.

According to Guterres, the first option was to maintain a force of 350 unarmed military observers, backed by four infantry protection battalions, as well as a reserve force deployed between the Blue Line and the Litani River to ensure the highest degree of credibility.

The second option included reducing the number to 285 unarmed observers with two infantry battalions and a smaller reserve force, with this operational deployment concentrated exclusively in the area between the Litani and the Blue Line.

The third and final option proposed the formation of a lighter force of only 215 unarmed observers, accompanied by light protection units and a rapid intervention force, to monitor developments on the ground along the Blue Line and in areas to the north of it.