Israel strikes Lebanon : Civilian areas Hit as ceasefire dispute escalates

[0:00] Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,020 people since the fighting began in March. [0:06] Israel and the United States say the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington does not include [0:11] the campaign in Lebanon, while Iran insists it does. The latest Israeli strikes have killed [0:22] at least 10 people in southern Lebanon. Residential areas in the Nabothia district have been hit [0:27] as attacks spread across several towns. Health officials say homes, infrastructure and civilian [0:33] facilities have been heavily damaged. Rescue teams continue to assess the damage and search [0:39] affected areas. And southern Lebanon has been heavily affected by Israeli military operations [0:45] in recent years. Newly verified satellite images show widespread destruction across several villages. [0:53] Amnesty International says more than 10,000 structures were destroyed between October 2024 [0:59] and January 2025. The group accuses Israel of targeting civilian sites, including schools [1:09] and hospitals. It says this could amount to war crimes. Let's turn now to Heidi Petsch. She's [1:19] in the Lebanese capital and we've been hearing from the Israeli Prime Minister laying out what [1:25] he called conditions for talks with Lebanon. Are we getting any Lebanese response to that? [1:33] There hasn't been anything specific from the Lebanese government today. We haven't heard from the [1:41] Speaker of Parliament, Nabi Khberi, who is the most senior Shia political leader here in Lebanon, [1:46] but he has long maintained that Lebanon should not negotiate under fire. That is, that there should not [1:53] be any real talks until there is a ceasefire here in Lebanon. In terms of the president, nothing official [2:00] from his office today. The Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, who was actually scheduled to visit the U.S. [2:06] next week, has now postponed that visit. And he has cited the security situation here inside Lebanon [2:14] as his reason for postponing that. There have been protests on the ground here in Beirut. And in fact, [2:19] for the last couple of days against the idea of Lebanon engaging in those direct talks with Israel, [2:26] we have had Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Party, calling on their supporters, in fact, [2:32] not to go into the streets at what they have described as a sensitive time for Lebanon, [2:38] warning that internal strife here could be exploited by Israel. So that gives you some sense of [2:44] how delicate things are here, the mixed reactions to the idea of direct negotiations with Israel, [2:50] because these two countries have been in an official state of war for decades. And it is, [2:55] in fact, illegal for Lebanese to talk to Israelis. So to have these two ambassadors speaking in the [3:01] U.S. on Tuesday is a very significant development, but it is getting a mixed response on the streets [3:06] here in Lebanon and among the political establishment as well. Hezbollah has long maintained that that would [3:11] be inappropriate and again, sticking with this idea that there shouldn't be negotiations until there's [3:17] a ceasefire. And Heidi, there are reports of Israeli occupation forces carrying out demolitions. What [3:25] can you tell us about that? Yes, this is unfortunately a longstanding policy of the Israeli military here in [3:35] Lebanon. Today, there were demolitions of houses in the town of Naora that is down by the coast in South [3:41] Lebanon, quite close to the Israeli border. It's in fact, the town where the UN peacekeepers are [3:46] headquartered. They had all of the cameras at their base disabled by the Israeli military last [3:52] week. But this demolition of houses, it is ongoing in many towns and villages close to the Israeli [3:58] border. Israeli military leaders, in fact, said that they were pursuing a policy similar to Rafa and [4:04] Khan Yunus, referencing the complete destruction that was visited on those towns in Gaza during the Israeli [4:12] operations there. But in terms of what else the Israeli military is up to across South Lebanon, [4:18] there have been continued airstrikes and more than a dozen people killed so far today. There has been [4:24] some respite in the capital that is reportedly due to U.S. pressure on the Israelis in advance of these [4:31] talks that will happen in Washington on Tuesday. But the Israelis also continue to expand their ground [4:36] operation. They have been sited inside the town of Bin Chabal. Now, that is a significant town, [4:43] not just strategically for its position in the central sector of the front line, but also it's [4:48] quite emotionally significant. That town has been dubbed by Hezbollah the capital of the resistance, [4:54] and that is because of the Israelis' failure to take that town during the 2006 war. So the fact that there [5:00] are Israeli makabar tanks inside that town at the moment is quite significant. [5:04] And we'll leave it there. Heidi Pett joining us from Beirut in Lebanon.