Lebanon’s Aoun calls for end to Israeli attacks in meeting with US envoy

Israel’s nearly daily-lethal strikes on Lebanon have been called into question by President Joseph Aoun and American envoy Morgan Ortagus at a meeting in Beirut.

Israel has repeatedly bombarded Lebanon in a flagrant violation of the November 2024 ceasefire, which aimed to end the country’s a year of hostilities that turned into months of full-fledged war with Hezbollah, with impunity. More than 20 people have been killed in Lebanon as a result of Israeli strikes alone in October, according to the country’s Ministry of Public Health.

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Aoun had insisted to Ortagus on the necessity of “activating the work of the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Committee,” especially with regard to halting the ongoing Israeli violations, in a statement released by the presidency on Tuesday.

The implementation of the truce is supervised by a five-member committee made up of France and the United States. Ortagus is scheduled to attend this week’s committee meeting.

Aoun added that “the need exists to allow southerners to return to their homes and repair damaged ones, especially as winter approaches.”

Excavators and bulldozers have been targeted by Israeli strikes in recent weeks. According to Lebanoni officials, these strikes are intended to stop any reconstruction efforts in the south of the conflict. Without providing any proof, Israel claims to be attacking Hezbollah.

The UN human rights office announced on Tuesday that it had verified the Israeli forces’ killing of 111 civilians since the Lebanon ceasefire.

Israeli troops were ordered to leave southern Lebanon in accordance with the ceasefire agreement last year, and Hezbollah was ordered to retreat north of the Litani River and destroy any military installations there.

Only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers are authorized to station in the south of the nation, according to the agreement.

An Israeli attack that hit UN peacekeeping personnel in southern Lebanon on Sunday was condemned by France and the UN.

According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the attack on UNIFIL troops, which included an Israeli drone dropping a grenade in the vicinity of a patrol and a tank opening fire on peacekeepers close to the border town of Kfar Kila, was “very, very dangerous.”

In contrast to the ceasefire, Israel has been launching nearly daily attacks in southern Lebanon, occupying five positions, and still holding onto the position five times.

The Lebanese government has begun disarming Hezbollah, who have declared they will not lay down arms as the country’s main resistance to Israeli attacks and occupation in the south, under the pressure of the US.

Israel has maintained troops in five strategic border locations despite the truce’s terms.

With the most recent ceasefire agreement in Gaza, Israel’s attacks in the Middle East haven’t stopped.