Israel targets south Lebanon amid US envoy visits
BEIRUT: A strike on Sunday that Israel said targeted Hezbollah killed two people in south Lebanon, according to authorities, as a US envoy was visiting for talks on the group and economic reforms. The strike came more than four months into a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus discussed disarming the group in meetings with senior figures, according to a Lebanese official.
On Sunday in the south, near the Israeli border, the Lebanese health ministry said two people were killed in an "Israeli enemy" strike on the town of Zibqin. The Israeli military said it targeted two Hezbollah operatives in the area who were "attempting to rebuild Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites".
Israel has continued to launch strikes on Lebanon despite a November 27 ceasefire that largely halted more than a year of hostilities, with raids this week in south Lebanon and even on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold. The truce was based on a United Nations resolution that says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.
The Lebanese official, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to brief the media, said that on Saturday Ortagus discussed "intensifying and speeding up" the Lebanese army's work in "dismantling Hezbollah's military infrastructure, leading to restricting weapons to state hands, without setting a timetable". Under the truce, Hezbollah was to redeploy its fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Israel, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south. Israel was to withdraw its forces across the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border, but has missed two deadlines to do so and continues to hold five positions in south Lebanon that it deems "strategic".
Ortagus has not made any official statements, but Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam — whose appointments earlier this year ended a more than two-year leadership vacuum — said their discussions with her on Saturday were positive. They said the talks addressed the situation in the south as well as economic reforms. The Lebanese official said Ortagus had "implied" that the reconstruction of war-ravaged areas "requires first achieving reforms and the expansion of state authority".
International creditors have long demanded reforms in order to unlock bailout funds that could help ease Lebanon's five-year economic collapse. Lebanon's finance ministry said Ortagus met on Sunday with Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, Economy Minister Amer Bisat and new central bank governor Karim Souaid. Discussions included "reforms initiated by the government... and the economic reform programme", a ministry statement said. It added that the bank chief and the two ministers would attend meetings with the International Monetary Fund in Washington later this month.
The Lebanese official said Ortagus on Saturday "praised the government's reform plan, particularly the measures taken at the airport". Authorities have been enforcing stricter measures and readying new technology at Beirut airport, seeking to prevent all smuggling, including funds, to Hezbollah, a Lebanese security source said, also requesting anonymity. Flights between Lebanon and Iran have been suspended since February after the United States warned that Israel might target Beirut airport to thwart alleged weapons shipments to Hezbollah, a Lebanese security source had said at the time. Hezbollah was the only Lebanese armed group that refused to surrender its weapons following a 1975-1990 civil war. The group was left heavily weakened during its latest conflict with Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have launched a ground offensive in Gaza City, the military said, expanding their operations as rescuers reported hundreds killed across the Palestinian territory. Since renewed military operations last month ended a short-lived truce in its war with Hamas, Israel has pushed to seize territory in the Gaza Strip in what it said was a strategy to force fighters to free hostages still in captivity. — AFP
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