New Israeli strikes hit Lebanon a day after talks in US
The Israeli attacks shook southern Lebanon a day after the first round of historic talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington.
The rise of smoke in the coastal city of Tire on Wednesday revealed the fragility of diplomatic efforts.
Although Israeli attacks in Beirut have eased since last week’s devastating 10-minute bombardment without warning that killed more than 350 people across the country, areas in southern Lebanon remain under frequent attack.
The Israeli army periodically issued warnings to residents of large swaths of southern Lebanon to flee, but thousands remained in the area either because they did not want to leave their homes or had nowhere to go.
Tire was once seen by many displaced families as a relative haven from the fiercest fighting in areas near the Israeli border.
Many residents now say they have no sense of security anywhere due to Israel’s targeting of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
The results of the bombardment across the city were visible in shattered buildings, piles of rubble and streets covered in debris.
Neighborhood residents moved carefully on roads covered in debris.
An Israeli drone crashed into a car a few hundred meters from Tire city center overnight.
Although it was not immediately clear who was targeted, witnesses said the attack killed a young woman sitting outside her nearby home.
Mourners gathered on Wednesday to bury the woman, 19-year-old Ghadir Baalbaki, in a temporary cemetery for those killed during the war.
Many families cannot bury their relatives in their hometown, close to the front.
Baalbaki’s aunt, Mariam Hamoud, said: “We performed the evening prayer and went outside and sat. We were sitting for 10 minutes before the attack hit us.”
“I hugged Ghadir because I thought he had fainted. I tried to wake him up.”
The latest tension between Israel and Hezbollah began a few days after the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran, when Hezbollah fired several rockets into northern Israel.
Israel responded with an intense airstrike and ground offensive.
Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 2,000 people were killed and more than a million Lebanese were displaced in Israeli attacks.
Tuesday’s talks in Washington marked a rare face-to-face meeting between Lebanese and Israeli officials.
However, Hezbollah opposes the talks, considering them a concession to the Israelis who continue to bomb the country.
The Lebanese government, which has criticized Hezbollah for dragging the country into another war, says talks are the only way to end the war.
