Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killed at least two people on Monday as the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated that his country “has no option but negotiation” with Israel.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least seven people were injured in the strikes, which came after Israel threatened to expand its attacks against the Iran-backed Hezbollah. One person was killed and seven were injured in a drone strike on the town of Doueir, in Nabatieh province, while a second strike on Aita Al Shaab in the same province killed one person.
Mr Aoun has called for indirect negotiations with Israel since mid-October, after the US President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire in Gaza.
“In politics, there are three tools for action: diplomacy, economics and war,” Mr Aoun said on Monday. “When war leads us nowhere, what do we do? The end of every war in the world has been negotiation, and negotiation is not with a friend or ally, but with an enemy.”
Israel has bombed Lebanon repeatedly despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. Israel warned on Sunday that it would intensify its attacks against Hezbollah, with Defence Minister Israel Katz claiming that the group was “playing with fire, and the President of Lebanon is dragging his feet”.
Hezbollah was badly weakened during the war with Israel, and the US has put pressure on Lebanon to disarm the political party and armed group. Hezbollah has refused any conversation over its weapons while Israel continues to occupy Lebanese territory and bomb the country daily.
Last week Mr Aoun said Israel was responding to his offer to negotiate by intensifying its air strikes. While Lebanese authorities have held indirect talks with Israel in the past, the US envoy Tom Barrack told reporters in Bahrain on Saturday that his country was pushing for direct negotiations.
