hâkim, Lübnan
11 killed in deadliest Israeli strikes on Lebanon since June
• Three children among the dead • Lebanese PM Salam says slain women, children were not ‘military infrastructure’; President Aoun calls strikes a ‘clear message’ ahead of Rome talks • Hezbollah vows ‘appropriate’ response, rejects direct negotiations BEIRUT: At least 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, including three children, Lebanon’s health ministry said, marking the deadliest raids since deals in June eased hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Seven people were killed when Israeli warplanes struck a house in the southern village of Ansar. Four others were killed and 17 were wounded in a strike on the village of Deir Zahrani, raising an earlier toll, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said. The attacks wounded a total of 19 people. The strikes came as Israel and Lebanon were set to hold an eighth round of US-sponsored direct negotiations early next month in Rome. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Saturday’s strikes were a “clear message” aimed at the negotiations and American efforts to implement the framework agreement. Aoun condemned the “ongoing Israeli attacks” on the south and “repeated violations of the framework agreement … and international law on protecting civilians, which led to the death of an entire family in the village of Ansar,” according to a statement from his office. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam echoed the condemnation, urging Israel to halt the “extremely dangerous” escalation. “The martyrs of the Israeli raid on the village of Ansar are not ‘military infrastructure’, and the women and children killed in it are not military targets,” Salam said in a post on X. Hezbollah said the Israeli attacks on Lebanon would be met with an “appropriate” response, urging authorities to halt “humiliating” negotiations with Israel. Israel “must clearly understand that its attacks, violations and attempts to impose a fait accompli cannot continue and will be met with an appropriate response,” the group said in a statement. Hezbollah added that Lebanese authorities “must not insist on continuing along the humiliating path of direct negotiations and providing the enemy with free concessions.” The group said the escalation reflected a desire by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to escalate the war in order to strengthen his domestic political position”. The Israeli military said the early morning strikes in the areas of Nabatieh and Ansar were in retaliation for an attack by Hezbollah on its troops inside an agreed security zone, which resulted in three injuries. The zone is a strip of territory about 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanon where Israeli forces operate. In a statement on X, Netanyahu’s office appeared to acknowledge that civilians were hit. The military said it killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, and others when it struck a central headquarters in Ansar. “At the time of the strike, Hassan’s family was also present with him inside the military headquarters and, according to the claim, was harmed in the strike,” the statement added. The National News Agency reported the strike near Ansar, roughly 20 kilometres from the border, was the deepest into Lebanon in two months. The agency also reported a series of airstrikes targeting the Ali al-Taher ridge, a strategic hill overlooking the Nabatieh area. The Israel-Lebanon framework deal includes the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region. At least 4,300 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest round of hostilities began in March. Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2026
İsrail'in 1915 Kararına Ankara ve Bakü'den Sert Tepki: 'Kendi Suçunu Örtbas Çabası'Başbakanın X hesabı ele geçirildi! Perde arkasında İsrail mi var?
LübnanBaşbakanı Nevvaf Selam X hesabına izinsiz erişildiğini fark etmesinin ardından bir gün önce yaptığı paylaşımı yeniden yayımladı. ‘HESABIMA GİRDİLER’ Yeniden yayımladığı mesajında Selam, "Dün yazdıklarımı yeniden paylaşıyorum, hesabıma girerek bunları silmeyi başaran birinin olduğu ortaya çıktı" ifadesini kullandı. Selam, çarşamba günkü paylaşımında, İsrail'inLübnan'ın güneyindeki el-Mansuri, Zuvter eş-Şarkiyye, Kefertibnit ve diğer köy ve beldelerde gerçekleştirdiği saldırı, yıkım ve altyapı tahribatına tepki göstermişti. ‘İSRAİL’İN YIKIM PLANINA TEPKİ GÖSTERMİŞTİ’ İsrail'in evleri, yerleşim alanlarını, altyapıyı, kamu kurumlarını ve ibadethanelerini sistematik şekilde yıkmasının "uluslararası hukuk ve uluslararası insancıl hukukun ilke ve kurallarının ciddi bir ihlali" olduğunu belirten Selam, bölgelerdeki yapıların askeri tesis olarak nitelendirilmesinin yıkım ve yerinden edilmeyi meşrulaştıramayacağını ifade etmişti. Selam, "Lübnan'ın egemenliği, halkının güvenliği ve güneyde yaşayanların topraklarına dönerek köylerini yeniden inşa etme hakkı pazarlık konusu değildir" değerlendirmesinde bulunmuştu. Selam'ın açıklaması,Lübnanordusunun İsrail'in güneydeki saldırılarının ordunun bölgedeki konuşlanmasını ve bölge sakinlerinin evlerine dönüşünü engellediğini bildirmesinin ardından geldi. Lübnanordusu, İsrail güçlerinin Nebatiye vilayetindeki Zuvter eş-Şarkiyye beldesinde sivil tesis ve evleri patlattığını belirterek, saldırıların İsrail'in güneydeki köy ve beldelere mümkün olan en büyük zararı verme ve istikrarın sağlanmasını engelleme yönündeki yıkıcı yaklaşımını sürdürdüğünü kaydetti. LÜBNANİLE İSRAİL ARASINDA ‘PİLOT BÖLGELER’ MUTABAKATI Lübnanile İsrail arasında 26 Haziran'da Washington'da imzalanan "çerçeve formülü", İsrail güçlerininLübnantopraklarından kademeli olarak çekilmesini ve çekildikleri bölgelerdeLübnanordusunun konuşlanmasını öngörüyor. Taraflar, temmuz ortasında Roma'da yapılan müzakerelerin 6. turunda "pilot bölgeler" mekanizması konusunda anlaşmaya varmıştı. İlk uygulama temmuz sonunda Zuvter el-Garbiyye'de başlatılmış,Lübnanordusu bölgede konuşlanırken bazı bölge sakinleri de evlerine dönmüştü. Roma'da 4-6 Ağustos'ta yapılan son müzakere turunda "pilot bölgelerin" genişletilmesi ve sınır meseleleri ele alınmış, ancak yeni bir İsrail çekilme bölgesi açıklanmamıştı. İsrail'in 2 Mart'ta başlayanLübnan'a yönelik saldırılarındaLübnanmakamlarına göre 4 bin 335 kişi hayatını kaybetti, 12 bin 277 kişi yaralandı ve 1 milyondan fazla kişi yerinden edildi. İsrailli vekilden canlı yayında 'Türkiye' uyarısı! 'Daha önce hiç karşılaşmadığımız türde' diyerek itiraf etti: 'Bizi kimse korumayacak'
Lübnan Başbakanı'nın X Hesabına İzinsiz Erişim, Paylaşım SilindiBaşbakan duyurdu: X hesabım çalındı, İsrail paylaşımı silindi
Lübnan Başbakanı Nevvaf Selam, sosyal medya platformu X'teki hesabının ele geçirildiğini ve İsrail saldırılarıyla ilgili paylaşımının silindiğini duyurdu. Lübnan Başbakanı Nevvaf Selam, X hesabına izinsiz erişildiğini fark etmesinin ardından bir gün önce yaptığı paylaşımı yeniden yayımladı. Yeniden yayımladığı mesajında Selam, "Dün yazdıklarımı yeniden paylaşıyorum, hesabıma girerek bunları silmeyi başaran birinin olduğu ortaya çıktı." ifadesini kullandı. Selam, çarşamba günkü paylaşımında, İsrail'in Lübnan'ın güneyindeki el-Mansuri, Zuvter eş-Şarkiyye, Kefertibnit ve diğer köy ve beldelere yönelik saldırı, yıkım ve altyapı tahribatına tepki göstermişti. Selam, "Lübnan'ın egemenliği, halkının güvenliği ve güneyde yaşayanların topraklarına dönerek köylerini yeniden inşa etme hakkı pazarlık konusu değildir." değerlendirmesini yapmıştı. LÜBNAN İLE İSRAİL ARASINDA "PİLOT BÖLGE" MUTABAKATI Lübnan ile İsrail arasında 26 Haziran'da Washington'da imzalanan "çerçeve formülü", İsrail güçlerinin Lübnan topraklarından kademeli olarak çekilmesini ve çekildikleri bölgelerde Lübnan ordusunun konuşlanmasını öngörüyor. Taraflar, temmuz ortasında Roma'da yapılan müzakerelerin 6. turunda "pilot bölgeler" mekanizması konusunda anlaşmaya varmıştı. İlk uygulama temmuz sonunda Zuvter el-Garbiyye'de başlatılmış, Lübnan ordusu bölgede konuşlanırken bazı bölge sakinleri de evlerine dönmüştü.
Hezbollah chief, Lebanese PM trade barbs over talks with Israel
• Qassem says talks will bring Lebanon ‘nothing but shame, humiliation’ • Salam accuses group of ‘helping Israel’ • Talks between both sides continue in Rome BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s chief said on Tuesday that direct talks between Lebanon and Israel would bring only “humiliation” for Lebanon and accused authorities of helping Israel, prompting Lebanon’s prime minister to hit back. The statement came as Lebanon and Israel were preparing to hold a fresh round of direct talks in Rome under US sponsorship, the seventh such meeting since the outbreak of the US-Iran war. “All the direct negotiations will bring Lebanon nothing but shame, humiliation, disappointment and successive concessions,” Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a televised address. He said Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “has not acted as an arbiter, nor as a unifying figure, but has become biased and divisive, which is incompatible with his role and with Lebanon’s strength”. The head of the Iran-backed group also accused Lebanese authorities of having “helped Israel instead of helping Lebanon’s sovereignty” by continuing with negotiations that he said had handed Israel “political gains”. PM Salam’s riposte Prime Minister Nawaf Salam hit back on X, saying “the greatest help to Israel was provided by those who unilaterally drew Lebanon into the adventures of futile wars… and granted it pretexts to attack our country”. “Those who unilaterally take the decision of war and try to continue to seize the state’s decision-making, and to tie Lebanon to foreign calculations and axes, ignoring the interests of their community and the Lebanese in general, are not fit to lecture on patriotism, not to mention on sovereignty,” Salam added. “Lebanon has no sovereignty except for the sole independent decision of the state with one army which extends its authority over all its territory,” Salam added. Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected the direct talks and refuses to surrender its weapons. Violence has decreased since the Lebanon-Israel deal, but Lebanon continues to report intermittent Israeli strikes, shelling and heavy demolitions in southern villages and towns. “Shouldn’t the systematic destruction of southern villages and towns… be reason for the political authorities to say, ‘We don’t want dialogue with the Israeli entity’”, Qassem said. He vowed “to make the utmost effort to provide the means for shelter, repairs and reconstruction”, cautioning however that this would require “patience”. Direct talks Meanwhile, Lebanon and Israel held a fresh round of US-sponsored talks in Rome on Tuesday, with Beirut seeking Israel’s phased withdrawal from the south. This week’s negotiations are the seventh round of Washington-mediated talks since the outbreak of the US-Iran war on Feb 28. On Monday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged Lebanon and Israel to “continue in a constructive spirit, identifying shared solutions that will allow for the full implementation of the framework agreement”. After talks last month, Israel’s military withdrew from the outskirts of the village of Zawtar al Gharbiya, one of the first pilot zones. The Lebanese army deployed to the area and has allowed residents to inspect their homes and businesses. Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2026
Lebanese premier says those who gave Israel pretexts for war caused greatest harm to Lebanon
Nawaf Salam’s remarks come after Hezbollah chief criticized government’s negotiations with Israel
Lübnan Cumhurbaşkanı Avn: Türkiye'nin bölgesel bir güç olarak üstlendiği rolü takdir ediyoruz
Lübnan Cumhurbaşkanlığından yapılan yazılı açıklamaya göre Avn, Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Erdoğan'ın davetine icabetle gerçekleştirdiği Ankara ziyaretinin ardından Beyrut'a döndü. Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan'la görüşmesinde Lübnan ve bölgesel gelişmelerin yanı sıra iki ülke arasındaki ilişkiler ve çeşitli alanlardaki işbirliğinin ele alındığın aktaran Avn, "Türkiye'nin bölgesel bir güç olarak üstlendiği rolü takdir ediyoruz." ifadelerini kullandı. İki ülke arasındaki güçlü ilişkilere dikkati çeken, Türkiye ile Lübnan'ın yeniden imar, enerji ve petrol alanlarındaki işbirliğinin önemini vurgulayan Avn, şunları kaydetti: "Başbakan Nevvaf Selam'dan birkaç gün sonra Ankara'ya gerçekleştirdiğim ziyaret, iki ülke arasındaki güçlü dostane ilişkilerin stratejik ortaklığa geçişini yansıtıyor. Türkiye'nin Lübnan'a, özellikle de karşılaştığı krizler sırasında gösterdiği sarsılmaz desteğine, Lübnan ordusuna sağladığı yardımlara ve Birleşmiş Milletler (BM) Lübnan Geçici Barış Gücü'ndeki (UNIFIL) varlığına minnettarım." Türkiye'nin, İsrail saldırılarının durdurulması için öncü rol oynamasını sağlayacak geniş çaplı ilişkilere sahip bir ülke olduğunu kaydeden Avn, ülkesinin artık savaşları kaldıracak gücü kalmadığını ifade etti. Türkiye'nin Lübnan'a sağlayabileceği yardımlara dair ise Avn, özellikle Lübnan ordusunun eğitimi ve donanımının yanı sıra İsrail saldırıları nedeniyle yerinden edilen vatandaşların beldelerine geri dönüşünü sağlayacak konteyner evlere işaret etti. Avn, açıklamada Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan’ı Lübnan’a davet ettiği bilgisini de paylaştı. Lübnan Cumhurbaşkanı Ankara'da! Erdoğan: Orta Doğu'da barış hedefimizden en fazla faydayı Lübnan görecek
Trump's Lebanon fantasy is running smack into reality
On June 26, two official delegations — one from Israel and one from Lebanon — signed a framework agreement with great fanfare in Washington. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, openly enthusiastic, framed the event as paving the way toward “lasting peace and security” between Beirut and Tel Aviv. A month later, President Donald Trump received Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House. Once again, Rubio welcomed the visit and reiterated the goal of disarming Hezbollah and achieving a complete and definitive peace between Lebanon and its southern neighbor. Like Tel Aviv, Rubio favors a top-down approach that centers on force and coercion. To neutralize both Tehran and Hezbollah, this camp hopes to combine strong military action against Iranian territory with maximum pressure on the government in Beirut. The goal is two-fold: to strong-arm the Lebanese government into sidelining Hezbollah and to permanently separate the Lebanese and Iranian equations. Within the Trump administration, not everyone is convinced that this roadmap is the most effective approach. Vice President JD Vance has for some time now made clear that he no longer believes that Washington’s interests and those of Tel Aviv are perfectly aligned, and he openly favors a de-escalation on the Iranian front. While Vance has not laid out a clear vision for his ideal end state, it would likely include an agreement with Tehran to keep its allied armed groups in the Middle East — Hezbollah foremost among them — in check. Incidentally, this would help stabilize oil prices and maritime traffic in the Gulf while preventing the war against Iran from becoming even more unpopular among American citizens ahead of the midterms. In this competitive landscape, the political and media buzz surrounding the Israeli-Lebanese issue offers an opportunity to bolster the supporters of Rubio and Israel at the expense of the vice president’s apparent preferences. All the same however, the Israeli-Lebanese process has very little chance of succeeding. In Lebanon, first of all, any agreement with Israel would face several legal and constitutional stumbling blocks. The consociational system, under which authority is largely divided up between the three main communities (Sunnis, Shia, Christians), leaves the president with little executive leeway. Since the 1990 signing of the Taif Accords, which marked the end of a 15-year-long civil war, the religious communities must adhere to a distribution of powers that determines the legality of political decisions. While Article 52 of the constitution authorizes the president to “negotiate and ratify treaties,” he may do so “only in agreement with the head of government,” and ratification will be validated “only after approval by the Council of Ministers.” The problem is that no government decision is constitutionally valid unless it is endorsed by all the major communities. Since the Shia parties expressed their opposition to the terms of the framework agreement from the outset, it is difficult to consider any future agreement viable. Similarly, any peace agreement with Israel will ultimately have to be ratified by the parliament. Given the body’s current make-up, the probability that the text will be approved by a majority of members is exactly zero. The Lebanese institutional framework is not the only problem. Trust in Israeli good faith is also a highly problematic issue. On November 27, 2024, Tel Aviv and Hezbollah signed a ceasefire. While Hezbollah adhered to it until March 2026 (that is, for nearly a year and a half), Tel Aviv never honored the deal: it violated the ceasefire agreement it signed in 2024 more than 12,000 times in less than a year. A new joke even emerged: “What does ‘ceasefire’ mean in Hebrew? ‘They cease, we fire.’” The systematic, large-scale destruction of the country’s south and the massive killings of civilians did not produce Israel’s desired results. Tel Aviv had ideally hoped for a polarization of Lebanese society that would lead to a civil war, in which Shiites would come under fire from their compatriots — or, at the very least, for a majority of Lebanese to condemn and permanently exclude Hezbollah from governance. The Israeli army’s brutal campaign had the opposite effect, adding fuel to Hezbollah’s fire rather than extinguishing it. In practice, the Israeli army has re-legitimized the Lebanese organization’s narrative that it has a special (if self-assigned) mission to defend the territory against the enemy to the south. This represents an extraordinary failure for the pro-Israel position on the issue. In January 2025, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia (alongside Israel behind the scenes) had pressured the Lebanese political parties to elect President Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who were said to embody a “new era” for Lebanon. The new leadership promised, far and wide, that the United States was working to turn the Lebanese army into a military force capable of defending the country’s territory, which would render Hezbollah’s defensive rhetoric obsolete. They also tried to reassure skeptics by asserting that “diplomatic friendships” were enough to deter Israel’s potential trouble-making. A year and a half later, the Lebanese army not only still lacked the resources to carry out its mission but was openly fleeing, on orders from Aoun himself, in the face of the Israeli advance in the spring of 2026. Hezbollah, which Tel Aviv claimed to have decimated in the fall of 2024, was back in action as early as March of the same year. And there were no signs of any external “friend of the Lebanese government” to keep Israeli military force in check. The initial support of Salam, a Sunni, for direct talks with the Israelis in Washington quickly put him in an uncomfortable position within his own community. While Lebanese Sunnis may have internal disagreements with Shiite parties and, in particular, with Hezbollah, the majority of the community remains sympathetic to its pan-Arab, pro-Palestinian, and anti-Zionist heritage. This explained the stance of the Sunni elites, which, at first glance, seemed inconsistent but was in fact the work of a master of balance: as several MPs from the community explained to me in late March, they support the prime minister’s decision to send a delegation to Washington, but not the agreement that will result from it. Sure, there would be loyalty to the leader, but not necessarily to the outcome of his initiatives. Since the signing of the framework agreement, Salam has hence quietly distanced himself from the process and embarked on a tour focused on building closer ties with rising regional powers, led by Syria and Turkey. When asked about the status of the agreement, he tends to bristle and refer the questioner to the presidential palace. Worse, the head of the Lebanese army himself, General Rodolphe Haykal, was so openly critical that the American administration asked Aoun to let him go. And on signing day, the Lebanese military personnel who were part of the delegation refused to be in the commemorative picture. In other words, pressured by the U.S. and Israel to the point of defending options they themselves know to be unrealistic, the Lebanese authorities quickly found themselves losing legitimacy and credibility among their own people. Apart from the Christian far-right — namely the party of the Lebanese Forces, heir to the militia of the same name that embodied during the civil war years a brutal militia that collaborated with Israel — no Lebanese truly believes in what is being cooked up in Washington with the Israeli representatives. This helps explain why Hezbollah emerged from the 2025 municipal elections as the clear winner in every town and city where it fielded candidates. This reality check led Western governments to pressure Lebanese political parties into postponing the parliamentary elections scheduled for spring 2026 by two years. Little wonder, then, that even Rubio’s optimism has cooled somewhat. Commenting on Aoun’s recent visit, he merely cautioned that this was “only the beginning of the beginning.” One thing is certain: it was a rather isolated Lebanese president who took off from Beirut last week to accept Trump’s invitation. In most of the Lebanese capital’s political salons, regardless of sectarian affiliation, the prevailing sentiment is: “Good luck, my dear. It’ll all be over in November 2028!”
Lebanon, Israel to hold next round of talks in Italy on Aug 4
LEBANESE Prime Minister Nawaf Salam places a national flag along a damaged street in the southern village of Zawtar al-Gharbiya.—AFP BEIRUT: Lebanon and Israel plan to hold their next round of US-brokered talks in Italy on Aug 4, a Lebanese official said on Wednesday, as the two countries began implementing a plan for Israeli withdrawals and Lebanese army deployment in the south. The two countries have held more than three months of face-to-face talks, billed as a way to put a permanent end to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, triggered by the wider US-Iran conflict. The ambassador-level direct meetings are unusual for countries that remain formally at war and have had no normal diplomatic relations through decades of invasion, military occupation and cross-border conflict. Five meetings hosted by the United States produced a framework deal late last month which foresees the disarmament of Hezbollah, the progressive withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the deployment of Lebanese troops. The ambassador-level talks have since moved to the Italian capital so that delegations could discuss the technical details and guidelines of the pilot zones – the term for the geographical areas where that phased process would be implemented. Beirut hails Israeli pullback from areas in the south, but says it wants full withdrawal ‘Full Israeli pullout’ The first Israeli withdrawal under the pilot zone programme took place this week. Israeli forces pulled out of the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh and the Lebanese army began deploying troops there, but asked residents to delay their return until the town was cleared of unexploded ordnance. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Wednesday and planted a Lebanese flag there, saying the state would work to reopen roads, clear rubble and restore public services so that residents could return. Salam said Israel’s withdrawal was a significant first step, but Lebanon wanted a full Israeli withdrawal. Israel continues to occupy what it describes as a buffer zone about 10 kilometres inside Lebanon along the length of the border, where Israeli troops have ordered local residents to leave and razed villages. Despite a ceasefire that came into force last month, controlled demolitions have continued. Tens of thousands of Lebanese people remain displaced, unable to return home because their villages remain occupied by Israeli troops or have been destroyed. Israeli officials have said they will remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains armed. The group has rejected Beirut’s direct talks with Tel Aviv and has refused to disarm in full. During his first official trip to Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon could remove “the root cause that Hezbollah has long cited as its justification”. Only then could Hezbollah be disarmed, Aoun told guests at a reception at the Lebanese embassy in Washington, according to comments shared by his office. ‘Heads held high’ The war has caused widespread destruction, mainly in the south, though violence has declined since the signing of a framework agreement between the United States and Iran last month and the Lebanon-Israel deal. According to the UN, more than 700,000 people have returned home over the past few weeks. In Zawtar al-Gharbiya, dozens of residents waited at the village’s entrance for permission to go check on their homes. “We will enter the town with our heads held high, thanks to the presence of the Lebanese army,” Abbas Yaghi, 73, said. The military has told residents to avoid entering the village “until the security situation stabilises”. The army is conducting a sweep of the town, which is geographically contiguous with its Israeli-occupied neighbour, Zawtar al-Sharqiya. Israeli troops still launch intermittent strikes in surrounding towns, the latest on Nabatieh al-Fawqa. Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2026