Lebanon PM accuses Israel of blocking talks amid attacks on south

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has renewed Beirut’s readiness to open negotiations with Israel and urged US support to push for long-delayed talks amid Israeli reluctance, as an intense Israeli military campaign batters southern Lebanon.

Salam told Bloomberg that President Joseph Aoun had already offered to discuss outstanding border disputes and Israel's continued occupation of five hilltops inside Lebanese territory.

He described Lebanon's position as consistent and constructive, while Israel had repeatedly requested negotiations only to walk back on promises when Beirut signalled its willingness to talk, while Israeli bombing has killed hundreds of civilians in southern Lebanon.

"They ask for negotiations, and when we show readiness, they won't agree to meet," Salam said. He pointed to the 2022 US-mediated maritime border deal as proof that diplomacy was possible when both sides enter talks in good faith, adding that he would raise Israel's obstruction directly with Washington.

A year after a US-French-brokered ceasefire halted fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, tensions remain high, with Israeli strikes hitting Lebanon on an almost daily basis, including a massacre on Tuesday night.

Israel has accused Beirut of dragging its feet on disarming Hezbollah, but Lebanese officials say the government was honouring its commitments as far as is possible with an economic collapse and continued Israeli attacks other pressing issues it has to contend with and hampering the process.

In August, the Lebanese cabinet instructed the army to draw up a phased plan for disarming armed groups, beginning in the south.

Salam said the first stage had remained "on track", with the Lebanese army expanding its deployment despite chronic underfunding and salaries eroded by inflation. Later phases are expected to cover Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.

Hezbollah, which rejects Israeli demands and views its weapons as essential for deterrence, dismissed the disarmament plan as a "grave sin", arguing that no state should be pressured to weaken its defences while under attack.

The group has also rejected Lebanon's offer of direct negotiations with Israel, saying occupation must end before any dialogue can begin.

Salam said that Israel was the party undermining the ceasefire by refusing to withdraw from five Lebanese positions along the border, which he said "have no military or security value" and were being used solely "to pressure the Lebanese".

Beirut has repeatedly accused Israel of using the outposts as leverage while launching so-called "pre-emptive" strikes, many of them in residential areas.

Tensions in south

The Lebanese army deployed inside the southern town of Beit Lif late on Wednesday after Israeli threats to strike the area, prompting urgent appeals from residents for protection, according to The New Arab's Arabic edition.

The warnings followed Israeli claims that Hezbollah was "rebuilding its capabilities" in the town, accusations residents described as fabricated and used to justify attacks on southern Lebanon.

Locals urged President Aoun and the army to "fulfil their national duty" by shielding civilians and preventing efforts to force the population out. The army later deployed patrols in the town as Israeli strikes and warnings spread across neighbouring areas.

On Wednesday, Israeli aircraft launched raids on Deir Kifa, Shehur, Ainata and Tayr Felsay, claiming without evidence that they contained Hezbollah weapons stores.

State news agency NNA confirmed strikes hit all four locations, while local reporters saw a collapsed home in Deir Kifa and large fireballs rising over Tayr Felsay.

A separate drone strike in Tiri killed a municipal employee and wounded 11 others as a university bus was passing, according to the health ministry.

Hezbollah condemns Ain al Helweh 'massacre'

Hezbollah condemned late on Wednesday Israel's strike on the Ain Al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp as a "new massacre", accusing Israel of deliberately bombarding a densely populated area and killing teenagers who had been playing football near the Khaled bin al Walid mosque.

Thirteen boys aged 16 and 17 were killed in the triple strike, according to the Lebanese health ministry and Palestinian groups. Rescue workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent said the victims had been on a small football pitch beside the mosque when the missiles hit.

Witnesses said that children were killed in the attack.

Inside the camp, charred cars, shattered doorframes and cratered alleys marked the impact sites. Schools were closed and shops shuttered as Palestinian factions from Hamas to Fatah called for a general strike. Protest marches were held in Ain Al-Hilweh and Beirut’s Shatila camp, while local leaders in Saida condemned the attack and urged unity.

Iran's foreign ministry also condemned the strike, calling it a "repeated breach" of the ceasefire and accusing the United States of enabling Israeli "aggressions and crimes" across the region.

Tehran said the "complicit silence" of ceasefire guarantors had emboldened Israel to widen its operations in Lebanon.

The attack was one of the deadliest since the November 2024 truce and followed days of heavy Israeli bombardment that have killed at least 17 people across southern Lebanon this week.

Meanwhile, Israeli media have reported debates within the country's security establishment about intensifying operations in Lebanon, with some officials arguing that current strikes were "not enough".

Ynet reported that the army was preparing "intensive attacks" expected to last several days, anticipating retaliatory rocket and drone fire from Hezbollah.

The outlet also alleged that Hezbollah's recovery had outpaced Israel's efforts to halt it. In another chilling warning, it also claimed that Israel did not expect the Lebanese army to dismantle Hezbollah, so the Israeli military would do the job itself.