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At least 15 people were killed in Israeli air strikes on south Lebanon on Thursday, the second day of a US-Iran ceasefire that Tehran says includes a halt on attacks on Lebanon.
The bombings in Zrariye, near the city of Sidon, and Abbasiyeh, close to Tyre, came as Lebanon observed a national day of mourning for more than 300 people killed in a wave of Israeli strikes across the country on Wednesday evening.
Israel and the US reject Tehran's claim that Lebanon is included in the two-week ceasefire that halted their attacks on Iran.
“We have grown tired of statements of condemnation, and we all had hoped that the ceasefire would include Lebanon, but unfortunately, you have heard the statements issued in this regard,” said Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun at the start of a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda.
“We have the capability and the means to negotiate [with Israel], and consequently, we do not want anyone to negotiate on our behalf. This is something we will not accept,” he added.
At the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam ordered security forces to strengthen their control of Beirut governorate and ensure they were the only ones carrying arms in the area.
He said this move was taken "in order to preserve the safety, security and property of citizens".
The decision was objected to by the two ministers in government nominated by Hezbollah.
Mr Salam said Lebanon would file yet another complaint with the UN Security Council over Israel's attacks.
Wednesday's strikes killed 303 people and injured 1,150, according to a revised Health Ministry toll released on Thursday night.
"The process of recovering martyrs from under the rubble is still ongoing in more than one location", the ministry said, and added that many bodies were taken to hospitals for identification through DNA tests.
Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine said earlier that four of the dead were soldiers from the Lebanese Army and 12 were ambulance workers.
The attacks on Wednesday afternoon came without warning and targeted areas not previously attacked. About a third of the deaths were in Beirut alone, according to the civil defence.
Israel renewed its forced displacement orders for Beirut's southern suburbs but added an additional district, Jnah, which has been bombed several times recently, and to which some stranded people have fled.
Wednesday was the deadliest day for Lebanon since Israel intensified its attacks on March 2, when the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah began launching rockets, and raised the overall casualty toll till March 9 to 1,888 dead and 6,092 injured.
Israel said it killed Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem's nephew and personal secretary, Ali Yusuf Harshi, in another strike overnight.
“The scale of the killing and destruction in Lebanon today is nothing short of horrific,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said after Wednesday's attacks. “Such carnage, within hours of agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran, defies belief.”
Israel said it attacked 100 Hezbollah “command centres and military sites” in the space of 10 minutes. It provided no evidence of a Hezbollah connection to any of the sites.
Hezbollah has since launched attacks on Israeli forces, after initially saying it was committed to the ceasefire, in response to the attacks. It has launched at least 14 rocket strikes since midnight.
Hezbollah also announced on Thursday afternoon that its fighters were engaged in direct clashes with invading Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the important south Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil.
Many countries condemned the Israeli attacks, including the UAE which also “expressed its concern over the repercussions on security and stability in the region”.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Israeli strikes on Lebanon violate the ceasefire agreement and would render negotiations meaningless.
