Israeli airstrikes pound Beirut despite optimism for ceasefire talks

By Linda Bordoni 

Despite the possibility of an imminent diplomatic breakthrough, Israel on Tuesday launched a barrage of airstrikes on Beirut's densely-populated southern suburbs, which it claims host Hezbollah strongholds.

The IDF announced that one barrage of strikes had hit 20 targets in the city in just 120 seconds.

Tel Aviv had issued its biggest evacuation warning yet, telling civilians to leave 20 locations.

Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Hezbollah kept up rocket fire into Israel.

Over the past year, more than 3,750 people have been killed in Lebanon and over one million have been forced from their homes, many of them since the conflict escalated in September.

Ceasefire talks

On the diplomatic front, Israel's security cabinet under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting to discuss the ceasefire deal, which a senior Israeli official said was likely to be approved.

Senior Lebanese sources said this would pave the way for a ceasefire declaration by U.S. and French Presidents, and at a conference in Rome, the Lebanese Foreign Minister expressed hope that a deal could be sealed by Tuesday night.

Gaza

However, there was no indication that a truce in Lebanon would hasten a ceasefire and hostage-release deal in devastated Gaza which has been under attack since October 7th as Israel pushes forward with its intent to annihilate Hamas.

Since then 44,250 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and more than 104,700 have been injured, most of the victims are women and children.

(Source Reuters and other agencies)