The U.S.-brokered “framework” agreement between Israel and Lebanon is proving to be a disaster for Lebanon as Israel has continued its military operations to turn southern Lebanon into a rubble field supposedly in the name of security. According to Al Mayadeen, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has once again appealed to Washington to restrain “Israel” following a deadly escalation across southern Lebanon, exposing the growing contradiction at the heart of Beirut’s U.S.-mediated diplomatic track.
The escalation came despite the framework agreement, which was promoted as a mechanism for reducing hostilities, restoring Lebanese state authority in the South and eventually facilitating an Israeli withdrawal. Instead, Al Mayadeen continues, Israeli occupation forces have continued operating inside Lebanese territory, carrying out airstrikes and expanding what they describe as a self-declared “security zone” extending roughly 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon.
Aoun described Sunday’s attacks as “a dangerous escalation... reaching Lebanese state institutions” and health facilities. He called on the international community, particularly the United States, “to urgently act to stop these violations.”
One of Sunday’s strikes in Nabatieh al-Fawqa “totally destroyed” the out-of-service Ghandour hospital, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, which condemned the attack as “another grave violation of international humanitarian law.” Elsewhere, Israeli attacks damaged government offices belonging to Lebanon’s Finance and Agriculture ministries.
