Israeli attacks killed 72 people across Lebanon on Wednesday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health says, as the death toll from Israel’s bombings surpasses 620.
Some 500,000 people may now have been displaced by Israel’s massive bombing campaign across Lebanon, Lebanon’s foreign minister says.
A lot of unconfirmed reports about exactly what’s next when it comes to a diplomatic settlement. But it’s important to remember some of the conversations that defence and security officials have been having over the past several weeks.
When Yoav Gallant, the country’s defence minister, spoke to the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, he said the time for a diplomatic settlement with Hezbollah had expired and that Israel is pursuing a more military type of procedure with a lot of force.
The United States says that it understands Israel’s de-escalation through escalation policy. But this is something that is causing widespread concern.
The Israeli military has said “the boots of Israeli soldiers will be in enemy territory”. Indicating that perhaps a ground offensive is looming. Something that’s also causing a lot of concerns.
A woman grieves at the scene of an Israeli air strike in the town of Maaysrah, north of Beirut, on Wednesday [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo
The Israeli Prime Minister said that all options are on the table. This is something that has been repeated by all of the Israeli officials who have been in a litany of meetings on Wednesday throughout the day.
So it’s still unclear exactly what a diplomatic settlement would look like or if that’s an option.
But in terms of securing the northern border with Lebanon, Israel said that they are going to change the balance of power in the north.
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