BEIRUT / ISTANBUL 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Sunday that an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut is another proof that Israel disregards repeated calls to halt its assaults.

His remarks came shortly after an Israeli strike killed five people and injured 28 others in southern Beirut. Israel claimed that the attack targeted Hezbollah’s chief of staff, Ali Tabatabai.

In a statement, Aoun said the attack, which coincided with Lebanon’s 82nd Independence Day, was “additional evidence that Israel ignores calls to halt its aggression against Lebanon.”

Israel “refuses to implement international resolutions and rejects all efforts and initiatives aimed at ending the escalation and restoring stability not only to Lebanon but to the entire region,” he added.

Aoun stressed that Lebanon has abided by the cessation of hostilities “for nearly a year” and has repeatedly advanced initiatives to maintain calm.

He renewed his call on the international community to “shoulder its responsibility and intervene seriously and forcefully to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people, preventing further deterioration and bloodshed.”

On Friday, Aoun said Lebanon was ready to negotiate with Israel “under UN, US or joint international auspices” to reach a “final end” to Israeli cross-border attacks.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also condemned the Israeli attack, calling for unifying all efforts behind the state and its institutions.

Protecting Lebanese civilians and preventing the country from slipping into “dangerous paths” are the government’s top priorities at this sensitive moment, he said in a statement on the US social media company X.

Salam said the government will continue to use “all political and diplomatic channels with brotherly and friendly nations” to protect Lebanese civilians, prevent open-ended escalation, ensure an end to Israeli attacks, secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory and achieve the return of Lebanese detainees.

He added that past experience has proven that lasting stability can only be achieved through the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the extension of state authority across all Lebanese territory, and enabling the Lebanese army to carry out its mission.

The resolution calls for a cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as well as for the establishment of a weapons-free zone between the Litani River and the Blue Line boundary mapped by the UN that separates Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel has carried out multiple strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut since the ceasefire, most recently in June.

Tensions in southern Lebanon have been mounting for weeks, with the Israeli military intensifying near-daily air raids inside Lebanese territory, claiming to target Hezbollah members and infrastructure.

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at least 331 people have been killed and 945 injured by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27, 2024. The UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) also reported more than 10,000 Israeli air and ground violations.

Under the ceasefire, the Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon this January, but instead only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.