Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” as part of its operations against Hezbollah, The Guardian reported on Sunday.
In a televised address on Saturday, Salam called the IDF’s actions a “collective punishment” against southern Lebanese residents by “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile.”
On Sunday morning, the IDF issued an evacuation order for all residents of southern Lebanon, especially those living south of the Zahleh River. Last week, the IDF issued several evacuation orders for numerous villages in the area.
The actions will bring “neither security nor stability” to Israel, The Guardian reported him as saying.
During the address, The Guardian said that Salam had also defended the ongoing US-backed negotiations with Israel, noting that while the outcome was “not guaranteed,” an agreement would be the “least costly path for our country and our people.”
Negotiations took place on Friday in Washington between Israeli and Lebanese military officials, with the aim of launching a "security track” of negotiations between the delegations, focused on fortifying their strained ceasefire.
Next Tuesday and Wednesday, negotiations are scheduled to focus on the “political track,” aimed at lasting calm.
IDF holds Beaufort Ridge for first time in 26 years
Salam’s comments came amid the now-revealed IDF operation of crossing the Litani River, where it successfully secured the Beaufort Ridge and Wadi al-Saluki areas of southern Lebanon.
The operation began several days ago, the military said on Sunday, with the goal of eliminating the threat Hezbollah poses to the citizens of northern Israel, and it is currently expanding to additional areas.
Ahead of the troops' entry, the Israel Air Force conducted extensive support strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.
Support fire for the ground troops also included artillery and tank fire.
