Loss of life toll introduced as Israel launches new assault in southern Lebanon, killing one particular person and injuring three.
The United Nations says at the least 71 civilians have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon since a ceasefire was struck on the finish of final yr.
Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN Workplace for the Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), mentioned on Tuesday that the loss of life toll included 14 ladies and 9 kids. He referred to as for investigations into “every army motion the place civilians are killed”.
OHCHR raised issues about current Israeli army operations hitting civilian infrastructure, together with a strike on April 3 that destroyed a newly established medical centre run by the Islamic Well being Society within the southern metropolis of Naqoura.
It additionally famous that at the least 5 rockets, two mortars and a drone have been launched from Lebanon in direction of northern Israel, in accordance with the Israeli military, and tens of hundreds of Israelis stay displaced from the north.
“The ceasefire should maintain, and any escalation is a threat for stability on the whole in Lebanon, Israel and the entire area,” Al-Kheetan mentioned.
Afterward Tuesday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Well being reported that an Israeli drone strike on a automotive within the southern city of Aitaroun killed one particular person and injured three, together with a toddler.
The Israeli army in a press release mentioned the air strike killed “a squad commander within the particular operations unit” of Hezbollah.
Israeli assaults
Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, together with assaults on the capital, Beirut, since a November 27 ceasefire, which largely halted greater than a yr of hostilities between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah, together with two months of all-out warfare.
Underneath the truce, Hezbollah was to withdraw fighters from south of Lebanon’s Litani River and dismantle any remaining army infrastructure there whereas Israel was to drag out all of its forces from southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s military has been deploying within the south close to the border with Israel as Israeli forces have withdrawn though Israel continues to carry 5 fortified positions in Lebanon that it deems “strategic”.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun informed Al Jazeera on Monday that the military was “dismantling tunnels and warehouses and confiscating weapons bases” south of the Litani “with none downside from Hezbollah”.
On Thursday, a senior Hezbollah official informed the Reuters information company the group is able to maintain talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon and stops its strikes.
