Lebanon's President Aoun Visits Nabatiyeh as Fears of Israeli Attacks Persist
President Joseph Aoun made a rare visit to Nabatiyeh after Israel captured parts of Ali Taher ridge, as residents seek security and talks continue.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun travelled to the southern city of Nabatiyeh on Saturday, a rare presidential visit to a region still tense after Israel seized parts of the Ali Taher ridge earlier this month. Israeli officials said they had destroyed Hezbollah tunnel networks in the area, an operation that went ahead despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreed on June 20.
The truce largely ended active fighting that had begun on March 2, when the Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel, two days after the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran. Yet Israel has continued attacks and airstrikes on areas of southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah has fired explosive drones without claiming responsibility.
Aoun was accompanied by the heads of Lebanon's crisis-hit security agencies, the state-run National News Agency reported. Some residents of Nabatiyeh have urged the army to strengthen its presence in the city to avert a possible Israeli ground offensive.
In footage broadcast on local television stations, one man told Aoun that residents want to feel secure and to know their children are safe after being displaced and humiliated. The latest Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced over one million. Since the ceasefire took effect, hundreds of thousands have returned to their homes in southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.
Aoun said the state would follow up on the needs of residents "so that you stay here."
Lebanon and Israel have held several rounds of direct talks in Washington and Rome. The State Department announced on Friday that the next round will take place in Rome in October. Hezbollah rejects direct negotiations with Israel and has called on the government to abolish the framework agreement reached in June.