At least seven people have been killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, according to local media reports, as Israel's offensive against its neighbor enters a second month. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that the situation in his country is "very critical," with the Israeli invasion exacerbating Lebanon's displacement crisis, which now affects over one million people.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health stated that an Israeli air raid on the town of Ramadiyeh in the Tyre district on Thursday killed four people and wounded three others. In a separate incident, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that an Israeli strike early in the morning hit a two-storey building in Kfarsir, Nabatieh district, killing three individuals. Additional Israeli air raids were also reported in the towns of Yater, Harouf, and Zebdine, destroying several homes. This follows a raid the previous day in the Nabatieh district that killed an entire family.
Prime Minister Salam, speaking in Beirut, asserted that Lebanon "has become a victim of a war whose outcome and end date no one can predict," adding that the country remains committed to "working by all available means to stop the war." He called for redoubled political and diplomatic efforts to halt "the ongoing violations of our sovereignty and territorial integrity" and to condemn "the blatant breaches of international law and international humanitarian law." Salam emphasized that Lebanon's displaced population are "the main victims of a war they have nothing to do with," highlighting the severe humanitarian toll.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed on Tuesday that Israel's military would occupy a swath of southern Lebanon even after the current war ends, establishing a "security zone." Political commentator Abed Abou Shhadeh, based in Jaffa, told Al Jazeera that Israel will hold elections by the end of the year, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must uphold his promise of "absolute victory." Abou Shhadeh argued that Israelis "don't have any clear objectives in Iran," and with the US regime purportedly seeking to end the war, Israeli leaders are allegedly preparing to continue hostilities in Lebanon to secure a perceived victory over Hezbollah, even if a ceasefire is reached elsewhere.
Source: www.aljazeera.com