Israel kills Lebanese soldiers as France hosts aid conference

An Israeli air strike killed three Lebanese soldiers in south Lebanon on Thursday as France hosted a conference to rally support for Lebanese state forces which are seen as vital to any diplomatic resolution of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Reuters has reported.

The Lebanese soldiers were killed as they were evacuating wounded people on the outskirts of the southern village of Yater, explained the Lebanese army. They were killed at around 4:15am local time (0115 GMT), said a security source. There was no immediate comment on the strike from the Israeli military, which has previously said it is not operating against the Lebanese army.

The area in question is part of the border region pounded by Israel during its month-long offensive against the heavily armed Hezbollah movement, in a conflict that spiralled out of the Gaza war. With more than 2,500 people killed by Israel’s offensive in Lebanon so far and over one million forced from their homes, according to the Lebanese authorities, the Paris conference aims to mobilise both humanitarian aid and support for the Lebanese military.

Armed and trained by the United States, the Lebanese army has little sway on the ground in Hezbollah’s strongholds in southern Lebanon. It recruits from across Lebanon’s myriad sectarian communities and has been seen as a guarantor of the civil peace since the 1975-90 civil war. Its deployment in the south is a key part of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. The Paris meeting is set to reiterate that Resolution 1701 should be the basis for a cessation to the current hostilities.

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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday that Washington had concerns about strikes against the Lebanese armed forces, while urging Israel to take steps to ensure the safety of the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said the Pentagon.

A security source in Lebanon said that 13 Lebanese army troops had been killed whilst on active duty since the start of hostilities last year. Another 16 had been killed in their homes. Israel has apologised in the past when it has confirmed Lebanese military deaths.

The occupation state launched its Lebanon offensive with the declared aim of securing the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis who evacuated their homes in northern Israel due to a year of cross-border exchanges of rocket fire with Hezbollah.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been on a regional tour to press for an end to fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon, will skip the Paris meeting despite being in London on Friday. He will send a deputy in his place.

Israel has dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah along with other top commanders and using air strikes to pound its strongholds in the south, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The Israeli military said early on Thursday that its “troops continue their limited, localised, targeted ground raids against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in southern Lebanon.” Israeli troops had “eliminated dozens of terrorists” and the Israeli air force had “struck over 160 Hezbollah terror targets, including launchers and terrorist infrastructure sites throughout Lebanon,” it claimed.

The Alma Research and Education Centre, an Israeli think tank that specialises in the northern arena with Hezbollah, said that 29 civilians have been killed in Israel so far as a result of Hezbollah attacks over the past year.

According to the Israel occupation army, 52 of its soldiers have been killed in Israel and southern Lebanon. At least 25 have been killed since the start of the ground operation three weeks ago.

Hezbollah indicated on Wednesday that it had escalated its rocket fire into Israel, saying it had fired precision guided missiles for the first time. The Israeli military said that four projectiles were identified as having been fired from Lebanon; two were intercepted and two fell to the ground.

Israeli air strikes pounded the southern Beirut suburbs on Wednesday evening, sending thick columns of flames shooting into the night sky one after the other, shortly after an Israeli military spokesman issued evacuation warnings for the area. Another strike came with no warning, hitting the nearby office of pro-Iran broadcaster Al-Mayadeen, said the station. It said that the office had been empty since the conflict began. Lebanon’s health ministry said one person was killed and five others, including a child, were wounded.

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