Israel Strikes Beirut, Breaking a Ceasefire—Again
Breaking a year-long ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel struck the suburbs of Beirut on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring 28 others, according to the BBC and the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Israel says it killed a senior Hezbollah official, Haytham Tabtabai, in an attack aimed at discouraging the militant group from rearming.
Hezbollah has not attacked Israel since the ceasefire began last November, according to the AP.
In a statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of refusing to implement its commitments after the ceasefire. He called on the international community “to intervene forcefully and seriously to put an end to the attacks against Lebanon and its people.”
This is not the first time that Israel has broken its ceasefire with Hezbollah, nor has the country respected its ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
According to the Gaza government media office, Israel violated the ceasefire with Gaza nearly 500 times in 44 days, killing hundreds of Palestinians, Al Jazeera reported.
Yesterday in Gaza, Israel launched airstrikes that killed at least 24 people. One strike targeted a vehicle, killing 11 people and injuring more than 20 others. Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya told reporters that most of the victims were children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it launched the strikes after a Hamas fighter fired on Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip, none of whom were injured. Earlier in the week, Israeli strikes killed at least 33 more Palestinians.
Israel has increased attacks on Gaza and Lebanon in recent weeks, despite ceasefire agreements. The intensified strikes come just as the U.N. Security Council approved President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which would create a “Peace Council” to oversee the region’s future.
But as Israel continues to kill civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, despite existing ceasefires, it is difficult to expect Trump’s new peace plan to do much.
