BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on the eastern city of Baalbek killed at least two people late on Wednesday night, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that the strike was carried out by “an Israeli drone.” Israel frequently launches strikes in Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire that brought its most recent war with the group to a halt in November.
Baalbek, a millennia-old city and home to a set of UNESCO World Heritage-listed Roman temples, sits in the Bekaa Valley, which is close to the Syrian border and has been a stronghold for Hezbollah.
Under pressure from the United States and fearing an escalation of Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government is now moving to disarm Hezbollah.
The group, which previously dominated Lebanese politics and was thought to be better armed than the military, was severely weakened by the war with Israel.
According to Beirut, the Lebanese army must complete its disarmament of Hezbollah in areas near the Israeli border within three months.
Lebanon health ministry says two killed in Israeli strike in Baalbek
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Lebanon health ministry says two killed in Israeli strike in Baalbek
- Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that the strike was carried out by “an Israeli drone“
- Israel frequently launches strikes in Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah
Macron urges Netanyahu to avoid ground offensive in Lebanon
- “I called on the Israeli prime minister to preserve Lebanon’s territorial integrity and to refrain from a ground offensive,” Macron said
- Macron said he also spoke to Aoun and Salam, stressing the need for Hezbollah “to immediately cease its attacks”
PARIS: France’s President Emmanuel Macron said he urged Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to “refrain from a ground offensive” in Lebanon in their first phone call since last summer.
“I called on the Israeli prime minister to preserve Lebanon’s territorial integrity and to refrain from a ground offensive,” Macron said on X, after Israeli ground forces pushed into several border towns and villages in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon, a former French protectorate, was drawn into the Middle East war on Monday when the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the death of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes at the weekend.
The French president said he also spoke to Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, stressing the need for Hezbollah “to immediately cease its attacks against Israel and beyond.”
Relations between Macron and Netanyahu soured last summer after the French leader declared France’s intention to recognize Palestinian statehood.
France formally recognized a Palestinian state in late September, before a fragile ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip the following month.
In a letter sent in mid-August, Netanyahu had complained the French plan to recognize a Palestinian state was fueling antisemitism — to which Macron responded that the fight against antisemitism should “not be weaponized.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in early September that his government would not agree to Macron visiting so long as Paris planned to recognize a Palestinian state.
