Israel’s escalation in southern Lebanon threatens to derail settlement efforts: Arab League

The Arab League on Saturday strongly condemned the ongoing Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, which have resulted in civilian deaths, warning that the escalation threatens to undermine efforts to resolve the conflict and end the occupation, Anadolu reports.

Earlier on Saturday, Lebanon announced that at least 11 people had been killed and 19 others injured, including children and women, in Israeli airstrikes targeting towns in the south, despite a ceasefire agreement reached on April 17.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the Arab League secretary-general said the Israeli attacks targeting civilians in Nabatieh and neighboring villages and towns since Saturday morning constituted “a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and a dangerous escalation that threatens to derail any efforts aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict and ending the occupation.”

The statement added that “these Israeli policies and practices blatantly expose the occupation’s intentions to prolong the confrontations, obstruct negotiations, and impose a new reality on the ground that is completely unacceptable and rejected.”

It warned of the danger of the situation sliding into broader confrontations unless the international community, particularly the United States, intervenes “to immediately stop the Israeli war machine and compel Israel to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”

The statement reiterated the Arab League’s solidarity with Lebanon and its people, affirming its full support for the Lebanese state in confronting “all attacks targeting Lebanon’s security, stability, sovereignty, and civil peace.”

READ: Lebanese PM, speaker urge clear timetable for Israeli withdrawal

Since dawn on Saturday, Israel has intensified its attacks on southern Lebanon. Israeli warplanes carried out strikes targeting a house in the town of Ansar and a two-story building in the town of Deir al-Zahrani in the Nabatieh district.

The Israeli army also shelled the Ali al-Taher hill area with phosphorus munitions and carried out two airstrikes near the Teachers’ Training Institute and the Husseini Club in the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

The Israeli army claimed that the strikes came in response to an “action” carried out by Hezbollah against its forces in the Ali al-Taher hills area, located within what Israel calls the “security zone” in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah did not immediately comment on that specific claim.

However, Hezbollah said in a statement that “this Israeli escalation, through the targeting of civilians and the expansion of the areas being attacked, reflects the desire and intention of the criminal enemy Prime Minister Netanyahu to escalate the war in order to strengthen his domestic political position, serve his electoral objectives, and appease the far right.”

The escalation comes despite Lebanon and Israel signing a “framework formula” on June 26 providing for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the continuation of negotiations between the two sides.

Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some of which it has held for decades and others since the previous war between 2023 and 2024, while during the current offensive it has advanced more than 10 kilometers into Lebanese territory.

READ: Israeli airstrikes kill 9, including 3 children, in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire