Beirut,June17, (dpa/GNA) – Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah rocket fire, continued across southern Lebanon on Wednesday, despite a US-Iran framework agreement, aimed at easing tensions across the region.
Lebanese security sources said Israeli combat jets, struck areas around Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Tebnit, while drones targeted al-Mansouri near the coastal city of Tyre. Israeli ground forces also advanced toward Hadatha in the Bint Jbeil district, the sources said.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television reported that the group, fired more than 10 rockets at Israeli forces in Kfar Tebnit. At least four people were killed in an Israeli strike near Nabatieh, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, though other reports suggested a higher death toll.
On Tuesday evening, the Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah targets and intercepted rockets, fired toward its forces in southern Lebanon. In a speech marking the start of the 10-day Shiite commemoration of Ashura, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, vowed the Iran-backed group would not disarm. “We uproot others. We will not be uprooted,” Qassem said.
He added, “any project under the title of disarmament will not pass” and said Hezbollah remained confident of “victory in securing Lebanon’s sovereignty and expelling Israel.”
Qassem said Israel was now seeking through political means, what it had failed to achieve militarily, and called for the implementation of ceasefire-related understandings that would lead to an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. He also hailed what he described as a major victory for Iran, following the US-Iran agreement. “The balance of power is changing in favour of the peoples of the region,” Qassem said, arguing that efforts to topple Iran’s government had failed and that “America’s colonial project in Iran has been broken.”
He thanked Tehran for its support and said, Iran had helped force Israel to halt its military campaign.
Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon, would pursue an independent course in ongoing negotiations while welcoming international support. “We insist that Lebanon’s path is independent in the negotiations, even though we support a ceasefire and any country that helps us, including Iran,” Aoun said in a statement.
“The Lebanese state is conducting the negotiations and is sovereign in its decisions. No one can take its place, and any settlement will be reached through us, not at our expense,” he added.
GNA