Israel keeps bombing Lebanon, prepares for long occupation

Israel has continued to launch aerial attacks on Lebanon while a top official says the regime is preparing for a long occupation of southern Lebanese territories.

Reports on Saturday showed that Israeli warplanes had hit the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon, at about 15:30 GMT, or 6:30pm local time.

The attack followed an earlier Israeli strike near the same town, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

That came as Israel’s war minister Israel Katz said in a video statement that the regime’s troops have been told to be prepared for a prolonged occupation of the so-called security zone that they occupied in early March during attacks on Lebanon, which were aimed at weakening the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.

The Israeli attacks on Saturday and the statement by Katz came just a day after Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered framework arrangement, raising fresh questions over whether the deal can halt Israel’s repeated strikes across Lebanese territory.

The agreement has faced growing criticism from inside and outside Lebanon as it has conditioned Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon on the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naeim Qassem issued a statement on Saturday to condemn the agreement, saying the group will never lay down its arms and will continue to fight the Israeli regime until it fully pulls out its forces from Lebanese territory.

Sheikh Qassem said that the Lebanese government had betrayed the Lebanese resistance and its people by agreeing to the US-brokered deal with Israel.

He said that Lebanon must force Israel and its main ally the US to comply with the terms of an understanding reached between Iran and the US earlier this month, which requires the Israeli regime to completely halt its attacks on Lebanon.

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