By Laila Bassam and Crispian Balmer
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli strikes killed at least 47 people in eastern Lebanon on Thursday, a Lebanese official said, putting pressure on the campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group as a U.S. mediator sought to advance ceasefire talks. the fire in Israel.
American mediator Amos Hochstein, who said a ceasefire was “within our reach” during a visit to Lebanon on Tuesday, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. There were no immediate statements.
A senior Lebanese official told Reuters there were still gaps to close and that Beirut had sought changes to the US ceasefire proposal, to include ensuring a faster withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
The diplomacy marks the most serious attempt yet to end the conflict between Israel and heavily armed and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, part of the regional extension of the Gaza war that erupted more than a year ago.
Bachir Khodr, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, said at least 47 people were killed and 22 wounded in Israeli strikes in the Baalbek region. In a post on X, he said rescue operations were underway. The region bordering Syria is an area of Lebanon where the Shiite Islamist Hezbollah has influence.
Beirut shook as Israeli airstrikes hit Hezbollah-held southern suburbs a dozen times, kicking up clouds of debris, in some of the most intense airstrikes yet.
Most residents have fled the area since Israel launched the offensive against Hezbollah in September.
The Israeli military said its strikes targeted Hezbollah infrastructure and that it had mitigated harm to civilians through advance warning and other measures.
In Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket hit a children’s playground in the northern city of Nahariya, the Israeli medical service MDA said.
“The Israeli government is not safeguarding my safety, that of my residents or that of the residents of the north (of Israel). It is not possible to live in a situation like this,” Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly told the station public Kan.
The Israeli military said about 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Nahariya. “Most of the projectiles were intercepted and the fallen projectiles were identified,” the army said in a statement.
Channel 12 said three rockets hit the coastal city.
Hezbollah’s Al Manar television network, quoting its correspondent, confirmed the launch of rockets towards Nahariya and its surroundings.
White House envoy Hochstein left for Israel after declaring progress in two days of talks in Lebanon with officials including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, backed by Hezbollah to negotiate. Speaking before leaving Beirut, Hochstein said he was going to Israel to try to close a deal if possible.
BATTLE OF KHIYAM
The diplomacy aims to end a conflict that has caused massive devastation in Lebanon since Israel began its offensive, carrying out airstrikes on large areas of the country and sending troops to the south.
Footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed thick smoke rising from the town of Khiyam in southern Lebanon, about 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the border, a focal point of ground battles between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops.
Israel says it aims to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from its north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Hezbollah, which has suffered major blows since Israel began its offensive in September, has continued to launch rockets into Israel and attacked Tel Aviv this week. Its fighters are fighting Israeli troops on the ground in the south.
The toll since October 2023 amounts to 3,583 people killed in Lebanon, says the Lebanese Ministry of Health, most of them killed during the Israeli offensive since September. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry said 25 deaths were reported on Wednesday.
Hezbollah attacks have killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. They include more than 70 soldiers killed in attacks in northern Israel and the Golan Heights and in fighting in southern Lebanon, according to Israel.