Israel launches attack on Lebanon amidst global calls for a ceasefire

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon bring Lebanese death totals to near 700 according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow for “continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force – we will not stop until we reach all our goals – chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes.”

These escalations come following an Israeli operation which saw thousands of Hezbollah operated pager and walkie-talkie devices explode simultaneously, leading to at least 25 people being killed and hundreds more injured.

In response to this, Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim political party and military group with at least partial control of Lebanon’s government, increased air strikes on Israel following Iran and Yemen’s aims to apply military pressure on Israel while Israel maintains its siege and occupation of Palestine.

At the time, external diplomatic agencies were hopeful that a ceasefire deal could be reached, and that it could be reached soon.

“The exchange of fire since October 7th, and in particular over the past two weeks, threatens a much broader conflict, and harm to civilians. We therefore have worked together in recent days on a joint call for a temporary ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance to succeed and avoid further escalations across the border,” said the offices of President Biden and President Macron in a press release.

In the same statement, they then called for the endorsement of Lebanon and Israel on the ceasefire agreement.

U.S. and French diplomatic officials have come out to say they previously believed Israel was on board with ceasefire talks, and had all but worked up towards an agreement to halt further escalations in the region.

“I can’t speak for Prime Minister Netanyahu, I can’t answer the question why he said what he said,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said.

“What I can tell you is that statement we worked on last night wasn’t just drawn up in a vacuum,” Kirby added. “It was done after careful consultation, not only with the countries that signed on to it, but Israel itself.”

Nettanyahu’s spokespeople have said the Prime Minister never considered the agreement.

Israel’s military spokespeople have expressed the airstrikes to be strictly targeting military operatives, although due to the nature of the attacks, and reported death tallies, that has not been successful.

Netanyahu is slated to address the United Nations General Assembly on Sep. 27, of which the U.N’s International Court of Justice recently found Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank to be unlawful.

Trip Tagle is a second-year majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact them, please email tnt5403@psu.edu.