Lebanese Sky Free from Israeli Attacks, Relief Returns
A village in southern Lebanon. Photo: Collected
Lebanon has passed its first day in nearly four months without Israeli airstrikes. Since the start of the conflict with the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah on March 2, southern Lebanon in particular had been subjected to daily Israeli attacks. Although a Beirut-Tel Aviv ceasefire was brokered three times by Washington during this period.
UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon confirmed on Sunday that they had not detected any Israeli strikes, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed the matter.
Dujarric told journalists in New York that the Israeli attacks had been suspended until Monday morning.
He said, "We welcome this de-escalation and sincerely hope this trend continues in the interest of civilians."
He added that peacekeepers have continued to observe Israeli armored vehicles, military exercises, engineering, and logistics supply operations across southern Lebanon.
He also said that Israeli aircraft continue surveillance over Lebanese airspace, though the intensity has decreased.
According to Dujarric, on Saturday, peacekeepers identified multiple airstrikes carried out by the Israeli army, 451 shelling incidents, and 20 projectile trajectories launched by Hezbollah.
One of Iran's key conditions in negotiating an agreement with the United States in Switzerland was the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and a halt to the attacks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday afternoon that Israel had agreed to this under US pressure.
Source: Al Jazeera
