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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Monday he would do the “impossible” to stop the war with Israel, after a ceasefire agreement and direct talks between the two countries failed to end the fighting.
Aoun’s remarks came as the Israeli army carried out a series of strikes in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah said it had struck a military target in northern Israel.
Since the ceasefire took effect on April 17, Israel has continued to launch strikes, carry out demolitions, and issue evacuation orders in southern Lebanon, saying it is targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah.
“The framework that Lebanon has set for the negotiations consists of an Israeli withdrawal, a ceasefire, the deployment of the army along the border, the return of the displaced, and economic aid,” Aoun said in a statement.
“My duty, based on my position and my responsibility, is to do the impossible, and to choose what is least costly, in order to stop the war against Lebanon and its people,” he added.
Last week, the truce was extended for 45 days after a third round of talks between Lebanese and Israeli representatives in Washington.
Hezbollah opposes the discussions.
The ceasefire has not stopped the violence, with Hezbollah saying on Monday that it fired a drone at a military target in northern Israel.
Hezbollah said the target was “an Iron Dome platform belonging to the Israeli enemy army” at a military encampment in northern Israel, referring to Israel’s air defense system.
The group said the attack was a response to Israeli “violations” of the ceasefire.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported a series of Israeli strikes across the south.
The Israeli military also issued an evacuation warning for three southern Lebanese towns.
The attacks came a day after Israeli strikes killed seven people in Lebanon, including a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the country’s northeast, far from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Israeli soldiers have invaded and occupied a swathe of southern Lebanon, operating inside an Israeli-declared “yellow line” that runs about 10 kilometers north of the border.
They have also carried out large-scale demolitions in the area.
Hezbollah has maintained operations against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel was “facing the challenge of neutralizing first-person view (FPV) drones,” as Hezbollah has increasingly used the technology to strike Israeli forces.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,900 people in Lebanon since the start of the war, including more than 400 since the ceasefire took effect on April 17, according to Lebanese authorities.
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