Netanyahu said the army was close to taking the key border town of Bint Jbeil. In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces continued air strikes and the destruction of homes, including with armored bulldozers. A U.S. Senate effort on Wednesday to block sales of such equipment to Israel failed.
Israel also continued attacks on ambulances, Polish Radio reported. In Mayfadoun, four medics were killed and six rescue workers were wounded during a rescue operation. Lebanon’s health ministry said attacks on medical workers were a war crime.
Reuters reported that Lebanon’s president would not hold talks with the Israeli prime minister, despite suggestions by U.S. President Donald Trump that such contacts might take place.
Three Lebanese sources said no talks were expected soon between President Joseph Aoun and Netanyahu, and the Lebanese embassy in Washington had conveyed the same message. Aoun had earlier held a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But, crucial peace talks between Israel and Lebanon took place on Tuesday, April 14, with both sides represented by their ambassadors in Washington.
According to reports, more than 2,000 people have been killed since the attacks began in early March, 6,000 have been wounded, and one in five Lebanese has been forcibly displaced from targeted areas. Israel has said any peace talks depend on Hezbollah being disarmed.
Meanwhile, relations between Israel and France have also grown increasingly tense, with Israel seeking to keep Paris out of Lebanon ceasefire talks.
“We would like to keep the French as far away as possible from almost everything, and especially when it comes to peace negotiations”, Israeli ambassador in Washington Yechiel Leiter said when asked about French President Emmanuel Macron’s role.
In late March, Israel’s defense ministry halted all defense procurement from France in response to what it called “France’s continuing actions that harm Israel’s security and the operational capabilities of its defense industry”, referring to, among other things, France’s refusal to allow overflights for planes carrying military supplies to Israel for the war with Iran; French protests over Israel’s actions in Gaza; and a French-led U.N. initiative under which France and other European countries formally recognized a Palestinian state.
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Source: Polish Radio