UN force in Lebanon says peacekeepers fired upon

MARITIME BORDER DEAL

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen instead called for the cancellation of a US-brokered 2022 maritime border deal with Lebanon, adding that “a vague promise” of improved security for Israel under the deal “was not fulfilled”.

A Lebanese official had told AFP on Saturday that the country was preparing to form a delegation to negotiate with Israel, but that there was no agenda, timing or location yet decided for any talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the Lebanese government was ready to engage in “direct talks” with Israel, and he offered to host negotiations.

Israel’s military also renewed an evacuation warning for Beirut’s southern suburbs, which it has repeatedly struck in the past fortnight.

An AFP photographer in south Beirut saw empty streets covered with debris and buildings flattened, with smoke still rising in the area after strikes in previous days.

Southeast of Sidon, Lebanon’s health ministry said an overnight strike killed three people in the village of Al-Qatrani while Israel’s military said it hit “several Hezbollah launch sites” there.

The Israeli army also said it had destroyed “command centres” belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in Beirut.