Israel’s Prime Minister says the attack on Lebanon has widened an important river
Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations may occur. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
Israeli troops have advanced to positions north of the Litani River in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday, as Israel stepped up attacks on Hezbollah militants after warning thousands of Lebanese to flee their homes.
This advance by Israel came as the US military hosted Israeli and Lebanese defense officials in Washington, DC, on Friday to follow the US plan to create peace between the two countries and get rid of Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The talks in Washington also aim to strengthen the April 16 ceasefire that failed to stop the border fighting, when Israeli warplanes attacked southern and eastern Lebanon and Hezbollah fired drones and rockets into Israel.
The Israeli army said this week that it has expanded operations under the security zone that its soldiers have occupied since April 16. During a visit to the Israel-Lebanon border on Friday, Netanyahu said that the soldiers have advanced, passing through the Litani river that runs east-west about 30 kilometers south of Lebanon.
“Our soldiers have crossed the Litani and are moving to the control positions,” Netanyahu said while speaking to the soldiers, according to quotes released by his office.
“We work in Beirut, Bekaa [Valley]in the entire width of the front, and they hit Hezbollah with a heavy blow.”
An increase in attacks on both sides of the border has put the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah at risk.
Israel’s conflict in Lebanon has been the deadliest incident of the Iran war, as more than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation orders since March 2, when Hezbollah fired on Israel in support of its ally Tehran.
Since then, Israeli strikes have hit Lebanon in the south, east and its capital Beirut, killing more than 3,200 people, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.
77 children have died or been injured in the past seven days, UNICEF said on Friday, citing figures provided by the Ministry of Health. Since the ceasefire began on April 16, 55 children have been killed and 212 injured, according to the agency.
Israel says 23 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed at the same time.
At the beginning of the war, Israel ordered the people south of the Litani River to flee. On Thursday, the army ordered people south of the Zahrani River – an area ten kilometers north of Litani – to also flee, declaring the area a combat zone.
Commenting on the advance of Israeli forces, Lebanese security sources said that Israeli forces had crossed the Litani near the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah on Thursday but retreated to the south bank of the river later in the day.
Ground forces crossed the Litani again on Friday, the sources said, saying it was not a major development and took place in the area east of the Litani near the Israeli border.
Speaking to soldiers at Israel’s northern command on Friday, Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said the army would continue to pursue what he described as Hezbollah’s “launch group” and its commanders and commanders at all levels.
“Wherever we identify a threat, we will strike it,” he said, according to a statement issued by the military.
Washington talks
In Washington, Israeli and Lebanese military officials met at the Pentagon to discuss the implementation of the ceasefire, which the two sides agreed on May 15 to extend by 45 days. The talks were expected to begin at 8 a.m. ET.
An Israeli source briefed on these talks said that Israel and Lebanon were not expected to discuss the issue of the areas south of Beirut, which is the base of Hezbollah where Israel says it has stopped attacking because of American pressure.
A US official said the talks at the Pentagon were going ahead as planned, adding: “The only way to achieve lasting peace is through direct talks between two independent governments.”
Israel and Lebanon agreed to split their US talks into diplomatic and security tracks. Diplomatic meetings are expected to be held next week at the State Department.
