Child Killed as Israel Presses Lebanon Strikes Despite US Talks

Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least five people, including a child, on Tuesday, as the three-month-old conflict continued to grind on despite the opening of a new round of US-mediated peace talks in Washington. The attacks, which struck around 30 targets according to Lebanese state media, also wounded 48 people, among them a doctor and other medical staff at a hospital that came under fire. The escalation followed a night barrage of projectiles from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement.

The humanitarian toll on Lebanon’s healthcare system has been devastating. The World Health Organization said that since the start of the conflict on 3 March, it had verified nearly 190 attacks on health facilities, killing 128 medical workers and wounding 332 others. In the past week alone, 11 attacks left four dead and 24 injured. The most recent of these, a strike on Jabal Amel hospital in the southern city of Tyre, injured more than 80 people, including doctors and nurses. “These attacks kill and mutilate, and deprive the population of the health services they need,” said Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO representative in Lebanon.

Viewed from Washington, the diplomatic focus remains on overcoming what US officials describe as the main obstacle to peace: Hezbollah. At the State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that if it were not for the militant group, Israel and Lebanon “could sign a peace deal tomorrow.” He was speaking on the first day of the fourth round of indirect talks since combat began. Although Israeli and Lebanese delegations were received at the department, neither side made public statements. The previous day, President Trump had struck a similar note, suggesting that a deal was within reach but for Hezbollah’s intransigence.

Yet in Beirut and across the region, scepticism persists. Hezbollah has indicated it would abide by a ceasefire if Israel halts all attacks, a condition that seems distant given the current tempo of operations. Analysts in London note that the US has struggled to constrain its ally’s military campaign, which it has justified as self-defence against Hezbollah’s rocket fire. With more than 120 health workers dead and diplomatic efforts yet to yield a breakthrough, the conflict shows every sign of deepening — and with it, the civilian suffering that international bodies say has reached catastrophic proportions.