A child sits on the shoulders of a man as she waves a Hezbollah party flag during a solidarity rally against the United States and Israel, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. AFP
Hezbollah said in its statement, "In defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the Israeli enemy's violation of the ceasefire by attacking civilians in the southern Lebanese town of Yahmar al-Shaqif, the mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance targeted an Israeli enemy army Namera armoured vehicle in the town of Qantara at 3:00 PM on Saturday with a drone strike, achieving a confirmed hit."
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that the death toll from Israeli attacks has risen to 2,496, with an additional 7,725 people injured since the start of the war on 2 March.
The ministry said the total number of displaced people sheltering in evacuation centres is now more than 120,000, and the number of displaced families in these centres has reached about 31,000.
The Israeli army claimed it had killed 15 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, despite a three-week extension of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.
It is not clear whether the deaths are connected to earlier reports by Lebanese media of Israeli attacks on a lorry and a motorbike in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor al-Shaqif in the Nabatieh district, killing four people.
For his part, the Supreme Islamic Sharia Council, headed by Lebanon’s Sunni Muslim Grand Mufti Abdul-Latif Derian, said that the “constitutional right” of President Joseph Aoun to pursue diplomatic negotiations to end the war with the “Zionist entity” should be respected, The Associated Press said.
The council blasted Israel, saying it launched “a devastating and relentless war on Lebanon and committed the most heinous and dangerous crimes.”
Lebanon and Israel’s ambassadors to Washington held two rounds of talks this month, the first official meetings between the two countries in decades.
Hezbollah is opposed to direct negotiations with Israel and has blasted the meetings held in Washington.
Trump said this week that Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet in Washington in the coming weeks.
There has been no official confirmation from Lebanon that Aoun will attend such a meeting with Netanyahu.
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