Israel has rejected Lebanon’s recent proposals for negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing Israeli invasion, declaring that it is “too late” for talks and that the war must continue until Hezbollah is completely militarily destroyed.
US envoy Tom Barrack reportedly supports the Israeli decision to continue the war, saying the two sides have “nothing to discuss.” Israel even indicated that the war against Lebanon, which was launched alongside the war against Iran, would continue even if the Iran war was in some way resolved.
The Israeli Army is reportedly preparing for Lebanon to be a protracted war. They are said to be keen on expanding their military occupation of southern Lebanon and some nations, like France, are offering to help disarm Hezbollah with an eye on preventing this war from escalating into a further humanitarian crisis.
Multiple Israeli strikes have been reported across Lebanon, including an attack in the town of al-Numairiyah that killed a family of eight. A strike on a car in Tyre District killed another two people. None of the slain have been identified as specific targets of Israel. Strikes were also reported around Beirut.
Ground troops also reportedly carried out “targeted raids” against Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has reportedly escalated the number of rockets fired against northern Israel as the Israeli attacks increase, sirens were reportedly active in the Haifa area.
Israel and Hezbollah’s last war ended in November of 2024 with a ceasefire, while a ceasefire that was meant to end cross border attacks and see Israel withdraw its ground troops from Lebanese soil. Though Hezbollah stopped firing rockets from the start of the ceasefire until the past week when the new war erupted, Israel had been launching near-daily attacks on Lebanon for months, and never actually withdrew its troops.
