Israeli air raids have killed dozens of people in the Baalbek region in eastern Lebanon, a local official said, as a United States mediator sought to advance ceasefire talks in Israel.
At least 47 people were killed and 22 others wounded in the attacks, Bachir Khodr, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, said in a post on X on Thursday. Rescue operations were under way, he added.
Elsewhere in Lebanon, Beirut shook as Israeli air strikes hit the southern suburbs about a dozen times, sending up clouds of debris in some of the most intense air strikes yet.
The Israeli army said it carried out strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure and that it had mitigated civilian harm through advance warnings and other steps.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry also said that the three people were killed in an Israeli bombing of the town of al-Shaitiyah, near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.
Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said the Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon coincide with a push by nearby Israeli ground forces seeking to advance on a strategic hill known as al-Bayyaada.
“The air attacks are about disrupting supply lines so that Hezbollah cannot reinforce its troops in that area,” she said.
“What Israel is trying to do is take control of the coastal road that goes from the border to al-Bayyaada. From al-Bayyaada, it aims to take control of the surrounding areas. At that point, they would have the southern city of Tyre in sight,” she said.
“Israeli forces are already using artillery in this area, which means their artillery batteries are inside Lebanon. So, we are really seeing a major battle for control in this corner of southern Lebanon,” Khodr said.
Israel has been pounding southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs since late September, when the military escalated its conflict with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah after months of exchanging cross-border fire.
The fighting began in October 2023, a day after Israel launched its ongoing assault on Gaza, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in what it said was an act of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
At least 3,583 people have been killed and 15,244 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October 2023, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Hezbollah, which has suffered major blows since Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon, has kept up rocket fire into Israel, attacking Tel Aviv this week. Its fighters are also battling Israeli troops on the ground in the south.
The Iran-aligned armed group’s attacks have killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, including more than 70 soldiers, according to Israel.
On Thursday in Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya, Israel’s MDA medical service said.
“The Israeli government is not safeguarding my security, my residents or the residents of the north (of Israel). It is not possible to live in such a situation like this,” Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly told public broadcaster Kan.
The Israeli military said about 10 rockets were also launched from Lebanon towards Nahariya. “Most of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified,” the military said in a statement. Channel 12 said three rockets hit the coastal town.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station, citing its correspondent, confirmed rocket fire towards Nahariya and the surrounding area.
US diplomatic push
US mediator Amos Hochstein met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz in Israel on Thursday, seeking a pause in the fighting, days after he said a ceasefire was “within our grasp” during a visit to Lebanon.
Speaking before he left Beirut, Hochstein said he was going to Israel to try to close an agreement if possible.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said Lebanese officials who met Hochstein had expressed “cautious optimism” at the prospect of a truce agreement.
“The feeling here is that Lebanon has made concessions. It is putting on the table the full implementation of UN Resolution 1701 – which means Hezbollah would pull back from the border – and it is apparently agreeing to a US role in enforcing that,” Khodr said.
“What is not mentioned in the draft ceasefire proposal is the disarmament of Hezbollah. Yesterday, we heard the Israeli foreign minister say that any agreement should give Israel the right to make sure Hezbollah does not receive weapons from Iran through Syria. So there are still major sticking points,” she added.
