Israeli air raids strike southern Beirut despite ceasefire efforts

Israeli fighter jets have conducted fresh aerial assaults on several areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut, less than 24 hours after their aerial aggression killed 11 people in the Lebanese capital. 

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli airstrikes targeted the Ghobeiry and al-Kafaat neighborhoods, the Sayyed Hadi Highway, the vicinity of the Al-Mujtaba Complex and the old airport road early on Friday.

“The raids left massive destruction in the targeted areas, as dozens of buildings were leveled to the ground, in addition to the outbreak of fires,” the report added.

The attack came hours after the Israeli military's spokesman Avichay Adraee, in X posts, warned residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs to clear away from several buildings.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Israel's "expansion" of its attacks on his country indicated a rejection of efforts to broker a truce after more than a month of war.

"The Israeli enemy's renewed expansion of the scope of its aggression on Lebanese regions, its repeated threats to the population to evacuate entire cities and villages, and its renewed targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids are all indicators that confirm the Israeli enemy's rejection of all efforts being made to secure a ceasefire," Mikati said Friday.

Mikati's statement came a day after  reports said Israel's extremist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met visiting US officials to discuss a possible deal to end his war on Lebanon.

The Lebanese premier said Israel's diplomatic behavior suggested it was rejecting a ceasefire.

"Israeli statements and diplomatic signals that Lebanon received confirm Israel's stubbornness in rejecting the proposed solutions and insisting on the approach of killing and destruction," Mikati said in a statement. 

On Wednesday, Mikati said US envoy Amos Hochstein had signalled during a phone call that a ceasefire in the war was possible before US elections are held on November 5.

The same day, Hezbollah's new leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said the resistance movement would agree to a ceasefire with Israel under acceptable terms, but added that a viable deal has yet to be presented.

On Thursday, Israeli strikes killed a total of 11 people, including children, and injured 14 others in the Lebanese city of Baalbek and nearby villages.

Israel has been carrying out bloody acts of terror and aggression across Lebanon after the occupying regime unleashed its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

At least 2,865 people have been killed and 13,047 others injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since early October 2023, according to the country’s health ministry.

Hezbollah hits Israeli military bases, rockets and drones in retaliation

Hezbollah has inflicted more losses on invading Israeli troops while targeting the regime’s military positions and settlements across the northern occupied territories.

In late September, the regime assassinated Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, in a strike on southern Beirut.

Since then, Hezbollah has increased its retaliatory attacks against Israeli targets and vowed to continue its fight in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defense of Lebanon.

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