A Lebanese boy removes his damaged bicycle from his destroyed home in south Lebanon on Wednesday after an Israeli airstrike. Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/APA Lebanese boy removes his damaged bicycle from his destroyed home in south Lebanon on Wednesday after an Israeli airstrike. Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari/APIsrael strikes southern Lebanon killing one and injuring 11 Hits on two towns among deadliest bombings since start of June ceasefire
An Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed one person and injured 11, the Lebanese ministry of health said, in one of Israel’s deadliest bombings since the start of the June ceasefire.
Israel carried out an airstrike in the town of Tebnine, south Lebanon hitting a cemetery, the Lebanese health ministry said. It said the town of al-Mansouri, also in south Lebanon, was hit too, forcing families to flee.
The Israeli military issued a displacement order about 30 minutes before the strike, saying it was destroying Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the area in response to the group’s “violation of the ceasefire”.
Two Israeli troops were killed and seven wounded in an explosion in south Lebanon on Wednesday, with the origin unknown. In recent weeks, Israeli troopss have been wounded by booby-trapped vehicles and mines laid by Hezbollah in south Lebanon.
Wednesday was the first time Israel has issued a displacement order since the start of the June ceasefire. Such orders were a near daily occurrence during the most recent round of Hezbollah-Israel fighting, which started on 2 March and displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon.
Israeli tanks in south Lebanon on Wednesday. Photograph: EPASince the June ceasefire, Israel has occupied swathes of Lebanon as part of a so-called security zone. It has continued bombing parts of the area and killing people who have come near.
It is a similar approach to in Gaza, where Israel occupies more than 60% of the strip under what it calls its “yellow line”, and continues to carry out bombings there. Earlier this year, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had ordered the army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza strip.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the October ceasefire. At least 26 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes in the strip over the past weekend.
In Lebanon, Israel has continued mass demolitions in areas it occupies, including a blast last week that used 700 tons of explosives around Beaufort Castle, outside Nabatieh. Israel has said it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, but rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, say the indiscriminate nature of the explosives could comprise the war crime of wanton destruction.
Talks between the Lebanese government and Israel for a more permanent peace are continuing, with the two sides meeting in Rome on Tuesday. The Lebanese government is seeking Israel’s withdrawal, while Israel wants the disarmament of Hezbollah.
A woman and child stand next to Lebanese military vehicles in Zawtar al Gharbiya, southern Lebanon, one of the pilot zones. Photograph: EPAThe meetings in Rome are the seventh between the two sides, with talks expected to focus on the Ali Taher area in south Lebanon, where Israeli troops have been conducting detonations.
So far, negotiations have resulted three “pilot zones” in south Lebanon where the Lebanese army has assumed control. The two sides are using these as tests of whether the Lebanese army can prevent Hezbollah from entering and can continue to dismantle the group’s infrastructure there.
Progress in the pilot zones is slow and the Lebanese government has asked for a quicker Israeli withdrawal, which Israel is unlikely to agree to.
The fighting this year started after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on 2 March in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Israel then began a bombing campaign and invaded south Lebanon. Israel has since killed 4,321 people in Lebanon, while at least 40 Israelis, 38 of them troops, were killed by Hezbollah.
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