Israel keeps up fierce Lebanon bombardment and awaits Hezbollah response on truce proposal
BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike flattened a building near one of Beirut’s busiest traffic junctions Friday, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel kept up its intensified bombardment even as diplomacy aimed at securing a cease-fire showed tentative signs of progress.
BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike flattened a building near one of Beirut’s busiest traffic junctions Friday, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel kept up its intensified bombardment even as diplomacy aimed at securing a cease-fire showed tentative signs of progress.
Pressing its offensive against the Iran-backed militant group, Israel has this week stepped up airstrikes against the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs — an escalation that has coincided with indications of movement in U.S.-led diplomatic contacts toward ending the conflict.
One of several airstrikes on Friday morning, the attack struck near the Tayouneh junction in an area where the suburbs meet other parts of the city, a more central target than most that Israel has hit. The Israeli military issued a warning on social media identifying buildings there and telling residents to evacuate, saying they were near Hezbollah facilities.
Civil defense workers today at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tayouneh, Beirut.Hassan Ammar / APCease-fire proposal moves forwardIn a more hopeful sign, the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal to halt fighting between Hezbollah and Israel to Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday, an adviser to the speaker, Ali Hamdan, told NBC News.
The Reuters news agency first reported the proposal.Hopes have been buoyed before, notably late last month when Lebanon’s prime minister expressed optimism a cease-fire could be reached before the end of October.
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