Lebanon president seeks US help after four killed in Israeli strikes

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has urged Washington and the international community to intervene after Israeli strikes killed at least four people in southern Lebanon, despite a truce and an Israel-Lebanon agreement.

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a dangerous escalation

Aoun described Sunday's attacks as "a dangerous escalation" that had reached Lebanese state institutions and health facilities. He specifically appealed to the United States, which sponsored direct talks between Israel and Lebanon and a framework agreement between the two sides in June, to act urgently to stop what he called violations.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said two people were killed in strikes on Nabatieh al-Fawqa, while two women died in nearby Arab Salim. Twenty others, including several women and three children, were wounded in the affected areas and in Nabatieh and Kfar Rumman.

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to urgently act to stop these violations

The ministry said a strike in Nabatieh al-Fawqa "totally destroyed" the out-of-service Ghandour hospital, calling the incident another grave violation of international humanitarian law. Israel's military said it had targeted Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure, including weapons storage facilities, militant structures and a Hezbollah command center inside a building formerly used as a hospital.

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totally destroyed

Israel said the strikes responded to a drone attack by Hezbollah a day earlier against its troops near a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon. Israel reported no troop casualties and called the drone attack a blatant violation. It has said it captured the Ali al-Taher ridge in the Nabatieh area as part of its self-declared security zone. Hezbollah, which has not claimed attacks for weeks, has not commented on that assertion.

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blatant violation