Lebanon

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office called Sunday’s strikes, which it said destroyed a hospital and damaged ‌a Finance Ministry building, “a dangerous escalation.”

After Syrian fighters opposed to Assad marched into Damascus to end his family’s five-decade rule in 2024, a number of military and security officers fled to Lebanon, where some remain.

The airstrike targeted a home on the edge of the village of Ansar and that paramedics were still searching through the rubble, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

The Israeli army launched strikes Wednesday in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire.

Volker Türk said some Israeli actions in Lebanon could amount to war crimes, echoing criticism from other human rights groups over the widespread destruction of towns and villages and the dozens of medical workers and journalists killed.

The U.S. State Department announced Monday that operations in three villages deemed part of a “pilot zone” had begun, expected to see Lebanese army troops confiscating Hezbollah’s weapons and phased withdrawals of Israeli troops.

“We will not have any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days,” Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said.

The framework ⁠agreed on Friday provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from some ​parts ⁠of southern Lebanon, alongside the deployment ‌of the Lebanese army.