Lebanon Strikes Kill 83 on Friday Pushing Toll Past 4,000
Israeli strikes killed 83 people in Lebanon on Friday, pushing the death toll past 4,000 since fighting resumed in March, even as a US-brokered ceasefire was announced but failed to hold. Lebanon's health ministry reported 83 killed and 141 wounded on Friday, with the deadliest attack in Nabatieh killing 17; the total toll since 2 March now stands at 4,057 killed and over 12,120 wounded. [2][5]
Deadly Strikes Continue Despite Ceasefire Announcement
Lebanon's health ministry announced that 83 people were killed in Israeli attacks on the country on Friday, with 141 others wounded. [2] The deadliest attack was in Nabatieh in south Lebanon, where 17 people were killed. [2] Other fatalities were reported across several southern districts, while three people were killed in the eastern Baalbek district. [2] The latest deaths bring the toll since all-out fighting resumed between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah on 2 March to 4,057, with more than 12,120 people wounded, according to the ministry. [2] Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday that Israeli attacks since 2 March have killed more than 4,000 people, including 135 health and emergency workers, and wounded 12,121 others. [5] Friday was one of the deadliest days since the beginning of the war in southern Lebanon, with Israel's strikes killing 83 people despite a proclaimed ceasefire. [2] Lebanese authorities reported 47 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Friday, the highest toll since the US and Iran struck their deal to stop the wider regional war. [3] The final death toll from Israeli strikes on Friday rose to 83, with 141 wounded. [5]
Netanyahu Orders Halt but Attacks Persist
Hours later, according to Israel's Channel 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to cease its attacks but instructed troops to remain in areas they have occupied in southern Lebanon. [2] The channel said Netanyahu's decision to implement a ceasefire came in coordination with the United States. [2] A ceasefire was due to come into effect at 1600 local time on Friday but failed to take hold as Israeli attacks continued beyond the deadline. [2] Hezbollah said Israel had committed more than 300 violations since the start of Friday. [2] On Friday afternoon, a US official announced a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah brokered by US and Qatari mediators, with Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter saying it would respect the truce if Hezbollah did. [3] However, yesterday an Israeli military official said it was conducting fresh attacks against the Iran-backed group, which it accused of having “launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon” overnight. [3] Hezbollah had not officially claimed any attacks on Israel or its troops in Lebanon since the ceasefire was announced. [3] Hezbollah maintained it remained committed to the truce and had the right to respond to Israeli violations, while Israeli officials described their actions as responding to fire with fire. [4] Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said yesterday that his group insisted “that the enemy fully and comprehensively respects the ceasefire.” [3] “The resistance has the full right to confront this enemy when it attacks us, as it is the aggressor and the occupier,” he added. [3] Meanwhile, an Israeli military official cited by public broadcaster Kan similarly described his country’s approach to the truce as being “on the basis of fire being answered with fire.” [3]
Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill 83 people on Friday, pushing death toll past 4,000. — Source: thenewarab
US-Iran Deal and Diplomatic Efforts
US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian this week signed a preliminary agreement to halt the Middle East war on all fronts, including Lebanon — a key demand of Tehran’s. [3] The US-Iran memorandum of understanding that ended hostilities in Iran and the Gulf explicitly included a ceasefire in Lebanon. [2] Tehran has said that future negotiations with Washington depend on Israel halting its attacks on Lebanon. [2] However, follow-up talks scheduled for Friday in Switzerland were indefinitely postponed as Israel launched a wave of strikes in Lebanon that left dozens of people dead after four of its soldiers were killed in combat, sparking a furious reaction at home. [3] In a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed “the need for Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory to cease,” his office said. [3] Rubio insisted on the importance of Lebanon carrying through on its efforts to disarm Hezbollah and “re-establish control over all Lebanese territory,” according to the US Department of State. [3] Israel and Lebanon, which have no official diplomatic ties, have held multiple rounds of US-mediated direct talks in Washington, with another scheduled next week, Rubio said. [3] Meanwhile, talks that were scheduled to take place between the US and Iran in Switzerland to build on the preliminary deal and work toward a lasting settlement in the wider Middle East war were postponed on Friday, with no new date announced. [3] US Vice President J.D. Vance had been expected to represent the US side, but put off his trip. [3] Instead, US envoy Steve Witkoff headed to Switzerland to get the talks back on track, US media outlets reported, with fellow Trump emissary Jared Kushner also expected there. [3] In parallel, mediator Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Iran yesterday for meetings with officials including Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi. [3] Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei had said the visit was “part of Pakistan’s efforts regarding the Iran-US negotiations.” [3]
Death of Prominent Environmental Activist Mona Khalil
Lebanese environmental activist Mona Khalil, 76, died on Friday from wounds sustained in an Israeli strike on her home in Mansouri beach two weeks earlier; she had dedicated over 25 years to protecting endangered sea turtles. [1] Khalil, 76, was injured when her house on Mansouri beach, near the southern city of Tyre, was hit during Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon two weeks ago. [1] She died on Friday after several days in hospital, according to a local environmental group. [1] Her death came as Israeli air strikes intensified across southern Lebanon, raising concerns about renewed violence despite diplomatic efforts to maintain a fragile regional peace. [1] For more than 25 years, Khalil dedicated herself to protecting endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles that nest along Lebanon's southern coast. [1] Her conservation work began after what her loved ones described as a life-changing encounter with a turtle laying eggs on Mansouri beach in 1999. [1] A refugee of the Lebanese civil war, Khalil was living in the Netherlands but had returned to visit her family's seaside home. [1] She was on the beach one night and saw a green turtle laying eggs on the beach. [1] After learning that sea turtle populations in Lebanon were under threat, she committed herself to protecting them and later returned permanently to the country. [1] Fast forward a year to 2000, and she helped establish the Orange House Project, an eco-tourism and conservation initiative overlooking Mansouri beach. [1] What began as a small guesthouse evolved into a centre for environmental education, wildlife protection and marine research, attracting volunteers and visitors from around the world. [1] Khalil spent decades monitoring nesting sites, documenting marine life and campaigning against coastal development, pollution and destructive fishing practices. [1] Her efforts helped secure protected status for parts of the coastline and raised awareness of the threats facing marine ecosystems in Lebanon. [1]
Context of Ongoing Conflict in Southern Lebanon
Israeli forces have gradually advanced towards the city, battling Hezbollah fighters in nearby areas for weeks, but have so far failed to capture the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge. [2] Earlier this week, the Israeli military published a map of its self-proclaimed "security zone" in southern Lebanon, extending up to 10 kilometres beyond the border and covering around six percent of Lebanese territory. [2] Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have said Israeli forces will remain in this zone until Hezbollah is disarmed, a demand the group has rejected unless Israel ends its war and withdraws from southern Lebanon. [2] Hezbollah had pulled Lebanon into the conflict in early March when it fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of then-Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. [3] A previous ceasefire meant to take effect in Lebanon in April was never honored, with both sides justifying their ongoing attacks by the other’s violations. [3] Nabatieh and its surroundings continued to come under heavy attack on Saturday. [2] Additional casualties were reported across southern Lebanon on Saturday. [2] Lebanese state media reported Israeli air raids on about 20 locations, with the country’s civil defense agency saying 16 people were killed in the Nabatieh area. [3]
Legacy of Conservation Amid Violence
Friends and colleagues said she remained committed to her work despite years of conflict in southern Lebanon. [1] Her home had previously been damaged during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, but she refused to leave the beach she had spent years protecting. [1] "She is a deeply committed environmental defender," Hisham Younes, the founder and president of Green Southerners, told the BBC. [1] "She used to talk about the beach like it was a person. Her bond to the sunset, her bond to the water and the turtles….she was really into conservation, and into the soul, the spirit of conservation." [1] "Mona barricaded herself inside her house, receiving no visitors and believing she was safe because she is a civilian," environmental activist and friend of Khalil, Maha Joumaa, told local media. [1] Joumaa said Khalil's decision to stay was consistent with her character. [1] "She absolutely refused to be displaced, which was fitting for someone so determined," she said. [1] Environmental groups said Khalil's legacy would endure through the conservation movement she helped build and through the generations of turtles that continue to return to Lebanon's shores. [1] Paul Abi Rached, the president of Terre Liban, recalled taking his children to visit Khalil in Mansouri in 2017 when they helped her release baby sea turtles onto the sand, and watched them make their way to the Mediterranean. [1] "Her love for the turtles was evident in every word and every action, but so was her love for people," he told the BBC. [1] "That, perhaps, is Mona's greatest legacy - she did not only protect turtles; she inspired people to care about them." [1]
What to watch next: Follow-up talks scheduled for Friday in Switzerland were indefinitely postponed with no new date announced, while US envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Switzerland to get the talks back on track and mediator Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi holds meetings in Iran.
