Lebanon president calls US to stop Israeli strikes

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Washington and the international community to help stop Israeli attacks after strikes on Sunday killed at least four people despite a truce and an Israel-Lebanon deal. In the latest escalation, Israel said it targeted Hezbollah operatives and sites in response to a drone attack a day earlier on its troops in a strategic south Lebanon ridge area.
Israel reported no troop casualties but accused Hezbollah of a 'blatant violation'. Israel this week said it had captured the Nabatieh-area Ali al Taher ridge, which it considers part of its self-declared 'security zone' in south Lebanon. Hezbollah, which has not claimed any attacks for weeks, has not commented on Israel's declaration of control over the site.
Aoun said on Sunday's strikes, which damaged government premises and destroyed an out-of-service hospital, were 'a dangerous escalation... reaching Lebanese state institutions' and health facilities. He called on the international community and in particular the United States, which has sponsored direct Israel-Lebanon talks and a framework agreement between the sides in June, 'to urgently act to stop these violations'.
Lebanon's health ministry said two people were killed in strikes on south Lebanon's Nabatieh al-Fawqa, with two women also killed in nearby Arab Salim. It said 20 other people including several women and three children were wounded there as well as in the city of Nabatieh and town of Kfar Rumman.
The ministry said one of the strikes in Nabatieh al Fawqa 'totally destroyed' the out-of-service Ghandour hospital, decrying 'another grave violation of international humanitarian law'. Israel's army said it targeted Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure, including 'weapons storage facilities' as well as 'a Hezbollah command centre that had been established inside a building previously used as a hospital'. It had earlier issued its first evacuation notice in Lebanon in a month, warning residents near a building it identified as a Hezbollah 'facility' in Arab Salim to leave ahead of an attack on the site. It did not issue warnings for other areas where strikes were reported.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said that after the Israeli warning for Arab Salim, 'enemy warplanes launched a strike on another house, destroying it' and killing the two women. It said the Israeli military subsequently carried out a strike on the building threatened in the evacuation warning. A correspondent saw a devastated structure that used to be a villa, including a large decorative column that had been toppled, at the site of the Israeli warning.
The NNA also reported a strike on a motorcycle in the Nabatieh area and said an air strike on Nabatieh city targeted a historical building and damaged offices belonging to finance and agriculture authorities. A correspondent there saw rubble and extensive damage to adjacent buildings, shops and vehicles, as heavy machinery cleared the road, while dust and debris covered chairs and desks in the regional ministry offices. Nabatieh Mayor Abbas Fakhreddine said 'the Lebanese government must take action... and at the least defend its institutions', adding that it was the second time the official buildings had been damaged by strikes.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war in March after Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of Iran. Israel responded with air strikes and a ground invasion of Lebanon that Beirut says have killed more than 4,300 people. Violence has decreased since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader regional conflict in June and the Israel-Lebanon framework agreement later that month. Israeli forces are operating inside a self-declared 'security zone' around 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanon along the border. — AFP