Israeli strikes hit southern Beirut, followed by Hezbollah firing around thirty rockets at northern Israel on Wednesday, following the decision by Lebanon and Israel to start direct negotiations for a lasting peace.
Israel called on residents in southern Lebanon, where the strikes are taking place, to evacuate a large area between the border and the Zahrani River, more than 40 km to the north.
According to the official National News Agency (ANI), two Israeli strikes targeted two vehicles on the highway connecting Beirut to the south, about twenty kilometers south of the capital.
One hit a car near Jiyeh and the other hit a van in the neighboring area of Saadiyat, which are not Hezbollah strongholds, according to the agency.
An AFP photographer saw a burnt car and firefighters trying to extinguish the fire. Rescuers were recovering human remains from the vehicle and its surroundings, while the army established a security cordon, causing a huge traffic jam on the road.
Since the massive strikes on “Black Wednesday,” April 8, which killed more than 350 people in Beirut and elsewhere in the country, Israel has not targeted the Lebanese capital following diplomatic pressures.
Rocket Strikes
In the south, Israel continued its strikes on several locations where its army is carrying out a ground offensive, the ANI reported, mentioning close combat with Hezbollah.
The pro-Iranian group stated through one of its deputies, Hassan Fadlallah, that its fighters were “impeding the enemy soldiers from taking control” of Bent Jbaal, a city near the border where clashes are ongoing.
The pro-Iranian Hezbollah fired around thirty rockets at Israel on Wednesday morning, as reported by an Israeli army spokesperson to AFP.
The Islamist group claimed responsibility for several rocket launches on locations in northern Israel, close to the border.
On Tuesday evening, the first direct talks in over 30 years took place between Lebanon and Israel in Washington.
The two countries will initiate direct negotiations to establish a lasting peace, according to the U.S. State Department, which hosted the meeting, but a ceasefire has not been announced.
The Hezbollah, absent from the talks, condemned the negotiations as a “capitulation.”
Since Lebanon was embroiled by Hezbollah on March 2 in the regional conflict with Iran, Israeli strikes have resulted in 2124 deaths and displaced over a million people.
