Israel launches fresh strikes on Lebanon further straining Iran ceasefire

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - BEIRUT — Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon on Thursday, putting the Middle East ceasefire in further jeopardy as international backlash mounted after hundreds of people were killed or wounded in massive strikes across the country on Wednesday.
At least 17 people were killed and several others injured in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on several towns, including Kafra, Jmaijmeh, Safad al-Battikh, Majdal Selm, Deir Antar and areas surrounding the Qasmiyeh bridge, the report said.
The strikes were carried out along with artillery shelling that targeted the town of Haris, it added.
An Israeli strike on the town of Zrariyeh in southern Lebanon killed more than 10 people, including women and children, after targeting a residential building, NNA reported.
Earlier, in a separate incident, an Israeli air raid on the town of Abbassiyeh killed at least seven people and injured others, noting the figures remain preliminary.
On Wednesday, at least 254 people were killed and 1,165 others injured in Israeli attacks across Lebanon, including Beirut, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense.
Iranian negotiators were expected to set off later on Thursday for Pakistan for the first peace talks of the war, where they are due to meet a delegation led by US Vice President JD Vance on Saturday.
But there was no sign Iran had lifted its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history, and Tehran said there would be no deal as long as Israel was striking Lebanon.
The supply shortage drove the price that European and Asian refineries were paying for a physical barrel of oil to record levels near $150 a barrel, with even higher prices for some products such as jet fuel.
Israel, which invaded Lebanon last month in parallel with the war on Iran to root out the armed group Hezbollah, says its actions there are not covered by the ceasefire announced late on ‌Tuesday by US President ‌Donald Trump.
Washington has also said Lebanon is not covered by the truce, but Iran and Pakistan, which acted ‌as mediator, ⁠say it was explicitly ⁠part of the deal.
A host of countries, including prominent US allies Britain and France, said the truce should extend to Lebanon and condemned Israel’s attacks on the country.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had killed the nephew of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem, who had served as his personal secretary, and had struck river crossings used by the group overnight.
Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs just before midnight and at dawn, and hit towns across the south on Thursday morning, Lebanese state media said.
For its part, Hezbollah, which had initially said it would pause attacks on Israel in line with the ceasefire, said it was resuming them on Thursday morning and had fired once across the border into Israel and twice at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
Rescuers across Lebanon were working through the night to try to save wounded people trapped under rubble of destroyed buildings ⁠after the Israeli attacks, which hit heavily populated areas without customary warnings for civilians to flee. — Agencies