Israel causes dozens of deaths after dropping 160 bombs on Lebanon, the largest wave of the war | International

The intense activity of the Israeli army in Lebanon during the early hours of Wednesday dampens the hopes of the Lebanese authorities and citizens, who hope that their country can be part of the temporary truce that the United States and Israel have agreed with Iran. Israeli troops maintain the bombings and mass evacuation orders in the framework of the fight against the Hezbollah militia after the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has assured that the ceasefire with Tehran “does not include Lebanon.” The president’s position contravenes Pakistan, established as the major mediator of the regional conflict, and Iran, an ally of Hezbollah, who have publicly maintained that the de-escalation in the Asian country is linked to that in Lebanon.

This Wednesday, fifty Israeli fighter jets dropped some 160 bombs in just 10 minutes, in their largest wave of bombings in a month of war in Lebanon, despite the fact that the mediator of the ceasefire with Iran, Pakistan, assured that it also extends there, according to data from the Israeli army. The attacks have overwhelmed hospitals in Lebanon, leaving dozens dead, according to the Ministry of Health’s emergency operations center. The Israeli Armed Forces have named the operation (“Eternal Darkness”), targeting what it defines as around 100 Hezbollah command centers and other military infrastructure in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and the south of the country.

Lebanese leaders have been slow to comment on the regional ceasefire. The president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, welcomed the agreement between Washington and Tehran after meeting with Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji and the chief of staff of the Lebanese troops, Rudolph Haykal. Through a statement, the president stated that he hopes that this is “a first step” for the Middle East to move towards a “final and comprehensive” peace, and has assured that the Lebanese authorities are striving “to ensure that regional peace covers Lebanon”, suggesting that this forecast is not confirmed.

Hezbollah, for its part, has suggested that the truce reached with Iran, its main economic and weapons support, will have repercussions in Lebanon, as France and Spain have demanded to end a Israeli offensive that has killed more than 1,530 people in five weeks. In a statement, the Shiite movement has claimed that it is “on the verge of a great historic victory”, and has asked for “patience” from the residents of southern Lebanon and the rest of the territories under Israeli fire: “We urge you to refrain from going to your villages (…) before the official announcement of the ceasefire in Lebanon.” In parallel, the Reuters news agency cites sources close to the organization who claim that the Shiite militia has suspended attacks against Israel, in an apparent attempt to include Lebanon in the cessation.

The regular Lebanese army, which is not participating in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, has called on Lebanese citizens who are forcibly displaced by the Israeli offensive to avoid returning to their southern towns, “because they could be exposed to continued Israeli attacks,” which during the morning of Wednesday numerous homes have been hit and vehicles in the southern areas of Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun, Qasmiyeh and Tyre.

The statement from the troops comes after news about the ceasefire in Iran has placed Lebanon in a state of disorientation, in which some residents have rushed back to municipalities in the southern region, which Israel considers a war zone and where fight to expand its land occupation.

At least publicly, the Islamic Republic has moved towards achieving the temporary truce by defending the inclusion of Lebanon in a regional cessation, in which the parties are given 15 days to negotiate in Islamabad the details of a permanent ceasefire. In a statement, in which he assures that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, has informed Iran that the United States “accepts these principles as a basis for negotiations“, the Iranian Supreme National Security Council includes among its demands “the need to end the war against all members of the Axis of Resistance.” That is the way in which the network of armed actors at odds with Israel, including Hezbollah, that Tehran promotes in the Middle East, calls itself.

Neither that statement nor the rest of the scarce information arising from the negotiations between Washington and Tehran detail what happens with Lebanon during these 15 days of temporary cessation. Amidst the uncertainty, both defend opposite things. Ibrahim Moussawi, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc in Lebanon, said on Lebanese television Al Jadeed that “Iran has insisted on the inclusion” of Lebanon in the terms of the regional truce. For this reason, the deputy has warned that the Iranian forces will be part of “the region’s response” together with Hezbollah in the event that “the Israeli enemy” does not commit to the cessation in the Arab country.

Meanwhile, Israeli leaders assure that the offensive on Hezbollah continuesjust as they have been warning that would happen since the restart of the open war with that militia, on March 2, in the case of an understanding with Tehran. “The battle in Lebanon continues,” reads this Wednesday the beginning of a statement from the spokesman for the Israeli troops in Arabic, Avichay Adraee. In separate military notes, the army reiterates the demand that the population evacuate all of the Beirutian suburbs, home to 700,000 peopleand everything south of the Zahrani River, whose northernmost point runs 40 kilometers from the border with Israel.

“Any displacement to the south could put your lives in danger,” warns the Adraee statement, after the Lebanese state news agency reported on Wednesday a “timid return” of displaced people from the north to Tyre, the largest city in southern Lebanon. An important part of the 1.2 million forcibly displaced people registered in the country come from that border territory, where Israel has placed itself as objective to occupy 10% of Lebanese territory to distance Hezbollah from the communities in the north of Israeli territory.