It’s a new conflagration in Lebanon. During the night from Thursday to Friday, Israeli strikes left 47 dead and 97 injured according to Beirut. For its part, Israel deplores the loss of four soldiers and threatens to make Hezbollah pay a “very heavy” price.
Faced with the risk of escalation, while a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington was announced, the Jewish state and the pro-Iranian group agreed on a ceasefire, an American official announced this Friday. 20 Minutes takes stock of the situation.
Massive bombings in the South and East
During the night from Thursday to Friday, Israeli raids affected at least 10 locations near the town of Nabatiyé in southern Lebanon, including that of Harouf, where eight people died, according to the Lebanese National Information Agency (ANI). The Baalbek region in the east of the country, another Hezbollah stronghold, relatively spared since the start of the conflict on March 2, was also targeted. The latest report from the Ministry of Health shows 47 dead and 97 injured. A previous official report showed 21 dead and 39 injured.
Israel, for its part, claimed to have struck Hezbollah infrastructure in response to the death of four of its soldiers, whose tank was hit shortly after midnight in the Kfar Tebnit area, near Nabatiyé. She then announced that she had struck “more than 80 targets” and killed “dozens” of Hezbollah members since the night, in “response to the violations [du cessez-le-feu] répétées et flamantes du mouvement.
A verbal escalation…
Israel will “pay a very heavy price” to Hezbollah, warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reaffirming that the Israeli army will remain in Lebanon, where its troops occupy part of the south, “as long as necessary”. “All of Lebanon must burn”, for his part reacted his Minister of National Security and political ally, Itamar Ben Gvir, a figure of the extreme right.
The Iranian movement assured that its fighters “will defend their land and their people with great courage” against Israel, referring the accusation of violation of the truce to the Jewish state which has “never respected any ceasefire agreement whatsoever” since the end in the fall of 2024 from their previous conflict. The head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, also accused Israel on Friday of wanting “permanent war” and denounced a “genocidal cult based in Tel Aviv”.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun denounced “a dangerous and reprehensible escalation”, which “attacks all ongoing efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and end the war” in his country.
… Before a ceasefire
Israel and Hezbollah finally agreed on a ceasefire on Friday, an American official announced.
The truce, which has already entered into force, was negotiated by American and Qatari mediators following discussions with Israel and Iran, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Lebanon nevertheless announced an Israeli strike in the south, despite this agreement.
The agreement called into question?
This renewed violence further jeopardized the new agreement between the United States and Iran providing for an end to hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon. Therefore the negotiations, scheduled to begin this Friday in Switzerland between Washington and Tehran, have been postponed sine die.
Find our file on the war in the Middle East
These discussions were supposed to launch the 60-day process to resolve the central issue of nuclear power. “The situation remains precarious,” analyzes an Emirati diplomatic source, citing “two factors likely to derail the agreement”: Israel and certain conservative voices in Iran.
