Israeli strike kills Lebanese soldiers as France hosts aid, ceasefire conference
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France's President Emmanuel Macron (right) looks on as Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati addresses an international summit in Paris.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BEIRUT – An Israeli strike killed three Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon on Oct 24, as France hosted a conference to rally support for Lebanese state forces seen as vital to any diplomatic resolution of the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The soldiers were killed as they were evacuating wounded people on the outskirts of the southern village of Yater, the Lebanese army said.
The village is part of the border region Israel has pounded during its month-long offensive
With more than 2,500 people killed by Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and over a million forced from their homes, the Paris conference
The conference on Oct 24 saw world powers raising US$1 billion (S$1.32 billion), with France’s foreign minister urging Israel to heed the message to cease hostilities and focus on diplomacy.
“The message (for Israel) is simple: Cease fire!” France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told a news conference, reiterating that a Franco-American proposal for a temporary truce was still on the table.
Mr Barrot said more than US$800 million, including US$300 million from Washington, had been raised primarily to help up to one million displaced people with food, healthcare and education.
A further US$200 million would go to the Lebanese Armed Forces, deemed as the guarantor of internal stability, and also vital to implementing the 2006 UN Security Council resolution 1701 that calls for southern Lebanon to be free of any troops or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state.
France has historical ties with Lebanon and has been working with Washington in trying to secure a ceasefire, although the two allies differ on the approach regarding resolution 1701.
Armed and trained by the US, 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 peace since the 1975-1990 civil war.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart on Oct 23 that Washington has concerns about strikes against Lebanon’s troops, while urging Israel to take steps to ensure the safety of the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, the Pentagon said.
A security source in Lebanon said 13 Lebanese soldiers have been killed while on active duty since the start of hostilities in 2023. Another 16 were killed while at home. Israel has apologised in the past when it has confirmed Lebanese military deaths.
Israel 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 rocket fire by 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, skipped the Paris meeting despite being in London on Oct 25, instead sending a deputy in his place.
Precision missiles
Israel has dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah, killing its leader
A firefighter sprayed a hose on a pile of smouldering rubble left by a strike late on Oct 23.
The Israeli military said early on Oct 24 that its “troops continue their limited, localised, targeted ground raids against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in southern Lebanon”.
It said its troops “eliminated dozens of terrorists”, and that its air force “struck over 160 Hezbollah terror targets, including launchers and terrorist infrastructure sites throughout Lebanon”.
The Alma Research and Education Centre, an Israeli think-tank that specialises in the northern arena with Hezbollah, said 29 civilians have been killed in Israel so far as a result of Hezbollah attacks over the last year.
The Israel Defence Forces says 52 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 on Oct 23 indicated it escalated its rocket fire into Israel, saying it fired precision guided missiles for the first time.
The Israeli military said 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 late on Oct 23, 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, the station said. It said 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.
The Israeli military on Oct 23 named six Palestinian Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza whom it said were also members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, an allegation the Qatari network rejected as an attempt to silence journalists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Middle East programme said on X that the allegations amounted to smearing Palestinian journalists “with unsubstantiated ‘terrorist’ labels”. REUTERS
