Pedestrians observing the damage caused by a deadly Israeli strike on a building in Sour, south Lebanon, on March 23, 2025. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Lebanese officials engaged in intensive discussion with the U.S. and France to prevent Israel from bombing Beirut amid its heavy strikes against southern Lebanon over the weekend, a Lebanese official who requested anonymity told AFP on Monday.
The Israeli air force bombed dozens of sites across southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing eight people, in retaliation to rocket fire targeting its territory for the first time since a cease-fire began on Nov. 27, except for a rocket fired toward the disputed Shebaa Farms and a reconnaissance drone.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Saturday, following these attacks on Metula in northern Israel, but intercepted by anti-aircraft defense, that "the fate of Metula is the same as that of Beirut."
During the full-scale war, which took place from Sept. 23 and Nov. 27, 2024, the southern suburbs of Beirut were targeted almost daily, while other neighborhoods in the capital were also targeted.
France and the United States
After the threats from the Israeli minister, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam "conducted diplomatic contacts with France and the United States, sponsors of the truce agreement, as well as with the U.N. to achieve de-escalation after Israeli threats to target Beirut," the official said.
The prime minister "emphasized the need to ensure security and prevent the recurrence of rocket fire" against Israel, he added.
The state-run National New Agency reported that Salam told reporters that the Lebanese government had only made contacts to "follow up on the issue" and that he hoped they would be "more active" moving forward.
"There have been some remarks on the positions expressed by the foreign minister in the media regarding the latest developments at the border. Colleagues have also commented on these statements, and we will continue the discussion with the Minister of Foreign Affairs," Salam said.
No one claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which, according to a military source, was launched from a region north of the Litani River, between the villages of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, adjacent to the area covered by the cease-fire agreement. The truce came into effect on Nov. 27, ending a deadly war between Israel and Hezbollah in which the Israeli air force killed close to 4,000 people in Lebanon.
The cease-fire agreement stipulated that only the Lebanese Army and U.N. peacekeepers were to be deployed south of the Litani River and that Hezbollah dismantle its infrastructure and withdraw north of the river.
The party firmly denied "any involvement" in the rocket fire. The Lebanese Army later announced that it dismantled "three improvised rocket launchers" in the area, about six kilometers from the border with Israel.
The military source told AFP that the army "arrested two Syrians who worked as guards at a nearby farm near the rocket launch site." These witnesses "claimed to have seen a car from which several men emerged to set up the launchers and fire the rockets before leaving."
Ortagus points the finger at Lebanese Army
The war has greatly weakened Hezbollah, which continues to be targeted by Israeli strikes despite the truce agreement.
U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus, who is expected in Beirut soon, appeared to be taking a critical stance against the Lebanese Army, to which Washington is a strategic partner and which the U.S. provides substantial support.
Responding to a reporter's question about Israeli violations in southern Lebanon, the envoy was quoted by the Lebanese website Asas as saying: "This question is wrong. The real question is, 'Why does the Lebanese Army continue to allow rockets to be launched from Lebanese territory? And what can it do to enforce the cease-fire and disarm Hezbollah in the South?'"
EU Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas called for restraint during her visit to Israel, arguing that the strikes on Lebanon and Syria risk leading to "further escalation" in the region.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.