Issa meets Aoun, Salam and Berri ahead of third round of Israel-Lebanon talks
Lebanese leaders urged the U.S. ambassador to Beirut to pressure Israel to halt its attacks as it pounded the country on Monday despite a truce in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
Lebanese authorities on Monday also raised the overall death toll from Israeli strikes since March 2 to 2,869 people.
That toll includes dozens killed since the truce went into force on April 17.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met separately with ambassador Michel Issa in preparation for a third direct meeting between Lebanese and Israeli representatives set to take place in Washington on Thursday and Friday.
Salam said he asked Issa to "exert pressure on Israel to stop the ongoing attacks and violations, in order to consolidate the ceasefire".
The appeal followed a weekend of intense Israeli strikes that stretched beyond the country's south and reached as close as 20 kilometers from the capital Beirut.
President Joseph Aoun urged Issa to pressure Israel to implement the ceasefire reached on April 17, halt attacks, and stop the demolition and bulldozing of homes in southern border villages.
Israel has expanded its strikes on Lebanon in recent days, despite the ceasefire, and its troops are operating behind an Israeli-declared "yellow line" that runs around 10 kilometers north of Lebanon's border. Troops are bulldozing and demolishing homes there and Hezbollah is targeting them, mainly with attack drones.
After meeting Aoun, Issa met with Parliament Speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri. The meeting discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the region.
The Israeli military on Monday issued an evacuation warning for nine Lebanese towns, seven of them in the south and two in the West Bekaa region in the east.
Israel's military said earlier on Monday that one of its soldiers had died in fighting near the border with Lebanon, bringing its losses to 18 personnel and a civilian contractor since the start of the war.
In an interview with Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya channel on Sunday, Salam said the country is "facing the occupation of 68 Lebanese villages as a result of this war that was imposed on us".
Source: Naharnet
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