Israeli strike in Beirut kills 5 as Lebanon, Hezbollah accept US ceasefire proposal

An Israeli airstrike killed five people in central Beirut on Monday, November 18, Lebanon’s health ministry said, the second day in a row Israel has hit a target within the capital as it presses its campaign against Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Smoke was seen rising from the strike in the densely populated Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood, near the central Beirut district where the Lebanese government is headquartered. Two people were missing after the strike and another 31 were wounded, the ministry said.

Israel has intensified its bombardment in and around the Lebanese capital over the last week, and Hezbollah has kept up missile fire into Israel, even as US-led diplomacy to halt the fighting has progressed.

Lebanon and Hezbollah have agreed to a US ceasefire proposal and made some comments on the content, a top Lebanese official told Reuters on Monday, describing the effort as the most serious yet to end to the fighting.

A diplomat familiar with the talks cautioned that details still needed to be ironed out and these could still hold up a final agreement.

US envoy Amos Hochstein was expected in Beirut soon, a US source told Reuters.

Israel has dealt big blows to Hezbollah since late September, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes, and sending troops into southern Lebanon.

Rocket sirens sounded across Tel Aviv and much of central Israel on Monday evening.

Falling shrapnel from an intercepted missile hit a main street in a Tel Aviv suburb, according to the Israeli military, which said it was still investigating. The blast wounded six people, including a 54-year-old woman who was in serious condition, according to Israel’s ambulance service.

Hezbollah said in a statement it launched a salvo of drone attacks at “sensitive military sites” in Tel Aviv.

Earlier an Israeli woman was killed when a rocket struck a building in Shfaram, in the north, Israel’s ambulance service said. The Israeli military said about five projectiles were fired from Lebanon.

Since Israel went on the offensive in September, the bulk of its airstrikes in the Beirut area have targeted the Hezbollah’s strongholds in the southern suburbs.

But on Sunday, Israel hit targets in the Beirut city limits for the first time in more than five weeks, killing 10 people in two separate strikes, including Hezbollah’s top media official.

Israel launched its offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah. Its declared goal is to dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities and secure the return of tens of thousands of Israelis who evacuated the north.

Hezbollah has fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with its ally Hamas since the Gaza war began more than a year ago. Israel’s campaign has uprooted more than 1 million people in Lebanon in the last eight weeks.

World powers say a ceasefire must be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Its terms require Hezbollah to move weapons and fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 km (20 miles) north of the Israeli border.

Truce terms

Hochstein, who has conducted several rounds of fruitless ceasefire talks over the last year, expressed hope last week that one could be reached.

Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said Lebanon had on Monday delivered its written response to the US ambassador in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, a heavily armed movement backed by Iran, has endorsed its long-time ally Berri to negotiate about a ceasefire.

“All the comments that we presented affirm the precise adherence to (UN) Resolution 1701 with all its provisions,” said Khalil.

The success of the initiative now depended on Israel, Khalil said. If Israel did not want a solution, “it could make 100 problems,” he added.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on Lebanon’s latest assessment of the diplomacy.

Berri said earlier on Monday that he saw a positive atmosphere in the diplomacy but also cautioned against counting chickens before they were hatched, Labour Minister Mustafa Bayram said, speaking after a meeting with him.

Israel’s campaign has killed 3,481 people in Lebanon since hostilities began, most since late September, Lebanese authorities say. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Hezbollah strikes have killed 43 civilians in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, while 73 soldiers have been killed in strikes in northern Israel and the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli figures. – Rappler.com