Israel kills 40 in overnight raids on Lebanon

As officials in Israel expressed the intention to continue operations in Lebanon on Thursday despite international calls for a ceasefire, Israeli warplanes resumed a wave of daily strikes on sites in southern Lebanon’s Sur district, Bint Jbeil in Nabatieh, and the Beqaa Valley. 

Hezbollah, meanwhile, announced it had conducted operations targeting a settlement and a military industrial site in Israeli-held lands.

The exchange of fire continued as local authorities worked to process the toll of a heavy wave of Israeli bombardment, which took place overnight, centering on Baalbek and Beqaa, killing at least 40 people in total as per the latest count.

In parallel with the nighttime raids, the United States and France were joined by a coalition of western countries as well as Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in releasing a statement to call on the governments of Lebanon and Israel to endorse “an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy.”

The joint statement called for the time to be used for “the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement” between Lebanon and Israel regarding the border. It also called for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas.

An initial response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office gave little promise of immediate respite however, denying news of a prospective 21-day ceasefire and saying the prime minister has not yet responded to the international call for talks. The Israeli interior minister likewise stated that there would be no ceasefire “until victory is achieved.”

The prime minister directed the Israeli military to continue fighting with full force, the statement said. Lebanese government officials were yet to respond as of the time of writing. 

Elsewhere, the level of destruction inflicted on the Lebanese governorates of Baalbek-Hermel in the northeast and the Beqaa Valley in the east started to become clear after the Israeli military said it had struck around 75 Hezbollah targets in the two governorates as well as in the south overnight.

Ali Qassas, the mayor of Younine in Baalbek, said that 23 Syrian nationals were killed and eight people, including four Lebanese nationals, were wounded in an airstrike that targeted a building rented by Syrian workers near a gas station in the area, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

In Karak in the Beqaa Valley, two residential buildings were targeted, causing severe damage. A correspondent in the area told Lebanese Al-Jadeed network on Thursday morning that nine people were killed in the raid and that dozens were still missing, presumed trapped under the rubble. In Shaath, also in Beqaa, four people were killed, according to Al-Jadeed. 

In raids on the south, the Health Ministry announced that one person was killed in Qana and another was wounded, both of Syrian nationality.Three people were also killed in Aita al-Shaab, close to the southern border, according to the ministry. 

Widespread destruction was also visible in the village of Saksakiyeh in the Sur district of the South Governorate, on Thursday morning where bombing had toppled several buildings. Vehicles in the area had also suffered damage, with car parts strewn among the rubble.

The overnight raids have brought the total number of people killed to over 660 since Israel began to escalate its airstrikes on Lebanon on Monday. The aggression has pummeled the Beqaa, Baalbek and the south, reaching further north on Wednesday to sites in the Shouf and Keserwan governorates.

The first days of the escalation caused panic as tens of thousands of people fled targeted areas and the armed forces intervened to clear heavy congestion on key roads toward less targeted areas. Lebanese Interior and Municipalities Minister Bassem Mawlawi said during a Thursday press conference that 70,100 displaced people are registered at over 500 government-coordinated relief centers. 

The international call for a 21-day ceasefire proposed talks toward a diplomatic settlement consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which stipulated for the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon except the national military and lays out rules for the deployment of troops south of the Litani River. 

Hezbollah has vowed not to cease their operations as long as Israel is occupying areas in Lebanon, a stance most recently echoed by head of the Amal Party and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in statements to the press on Thursday. 

Israel continues to occupy the village of Ghajar, Shebaa Farms and the hills around Kfarchouba.

The ceasefire initiative also called for “all parties” to resume talks around a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in the Gaza Strip, which Israel continued to bomb on Thursday.