At least 21 people were killed and 126 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon over the past day, despite a ceasefire that has been in effect since April 17, the country’s health ministry said on June 1.
“The overall death toll since the outbreak of the ongoing armed escalation on March 2 has climbed to 3,433, with 10,395 people injured,” the ministry said in a statement posted on X.
Israel is escalating its attacks in Lebanon because it sees the country as the most effective arena to weaken Iran and “bleed Iran without touching it directly,” according to Abdulla Banndar Al Etaibi, assistant professor in the Department of International Affairs at Qatar University.
Meanwhile, Iran’s negotiating team said that the “immediate cessation” of what it described as “aggressive and barbaric military operations” by the “Zionist regime” in Gaza and Lebanon is required, along with Israel’s full withdrawal from occupied areas in Lebanon. The delegation reportedly stated that there would be “no dialogue” with the U.S. side unless those conditions are met.
