Lebanon president calls on foreign partners to stop Israeli attacks
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement issued by his office that Israel's strike in Beirut on Sunday was "further proof that it disregards repeated calls to cease its attacks on Lebanon and refuses to implement international resolutions and all efforts and initiatives aimed at ending the escalation and restoring stability, not only to Lebanon but to the entire region."
"Lebanon, which has adhered to the cessation of hostilities for nearly a year now and has presented initiative after initiative, reiterates its call to the international community to assume its responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people," Aoun said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Sunday that Hezbollah chief of staff Haitham Ali Tabataba'i was the target of the strike in the south of the capital, which the Lebanon Health Ministry said killed a total of five people and injured 28.
Hezbollah confirmed that Tabataba'i was among those killed.
Despite the ceasefire agreement signed with Hezbollah last November, Israel has continued bombing targets across Hezbollah-dominated areas in southern and eastern Lebanon. Israeli soldiers are also still deployed at five locations inside southern Lebanon.
The Israeli strike in Beirut on Sunday was the first attack on the Lebanese capital for several months.
