Aoun accuses Iran of using Lebanon as a bargaining chip with US

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has delivered one of his sharpest rebukes yet of Iran and its ally Hezbollah, accusing Tehran of turning Lebanon into a pawn in its negotiations with the United States as the country is battered by war with Israel.

In an interview with CNN, Mr Aoun said ordinary Lebanese were “paying the price … for the sake” of Iran’s interests and had grown “fed up” with the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, laying bare the strain running through Lebanon’s already fragile sectarian and political landscape.

“They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States,” Mr Aoun said of Iran, according to excerpts of the interview published on the CNN website. “It’s unacceptable.”

Hezbollah, the Shi’ite Muslim movement established by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, triggered the latest round of fighting more than three months ago when it launched fire in solidarity with Tehran after Iran came under US-Israeli attack.

Since parliament elected him president last year, Mr Aoun has pushed for Hezbollah to disarm through peaceful means. In the early stages of the war, he also called for direct talks with Israel, widening the rift between himself and the group.

Iran has tied any ceasefire in Lebanon to a broader peace agreement with Washington in the regional war that erupted after the US-Israeli attack on Tehran on 28 February.

Yesterday, Hezbollah turned down a ceasefire proposal negotiated by Lebanese and Israeli officials during US-mediated talks in Washington. The plan depended on Hezbollah halting its attacks and withdrawing its fighters from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a written statement that the Washington agreement had been rejected by “broad segments of the Lebanese people”.

Addressing Mr Qassem directly, Mr Aoun said: “The Lebanese people are not your people”.

Israeli strikes have killed thousands in Lebanon since March and forced about 1.2 million people from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities. Israeli forces have also taken control of a stretch of southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike in the south today killed five people, among them a woman and an emergency worker, and denounced what it called “the targeting of paramedics carrying out rescue operations”.

“The Israeli enemy strike on the town of Zebdine in the Nabatieh district killed five people including a woman, and a paramedic from the Risala Association, and wounded two people including a paramedic,” a ministry statement said, referring to emergency responders affiliated with Hezbollah ally the Amal movement.

UN doubles Lebanon aid appeal as humanitarian needs surge

French members of UNIFIL distributing aid among displaced people in southern Lebanon last month

At the same time, the United Nations says it is dramatically increasing the funds it needs to respond to Lebanon’s mounting humanitarian crisis as the war moves into its fourth month.

Lebanon was pulled deeper into the regional conflict in early March when Hezbollah fighters fired rockets into Israel in support of Iran, which was under attack from the US and Israel, setting off a sweeping Israeli air and ground offensive.

Hezbollah said its attack came in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader on 28 February.

“In the past three months, communities across Lebanon have faced an appalling situation due to the escalation of hostilities,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza said.

“The toll on civilians is alarming and worsening by the day.”

The UN said it would issue a new appeal alongside the Lebanese government for an additional $331.5m (€285m) to support 1.4 million people, lifting the total request to $639.9m (€550m).

As of 31 May, it had received $185.9m (€160m).

Since 2 March, Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,500 people, Lebanese authorities say, though their figures do not separate civilians from combatants.

The UN has warned that nearly one in four people in Lebanon – around 1.24 million – are expected to face crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity through August.

Mr Riza said he had met a family in the southern city of Tyre, one of the areas hardest hit by Israeli bombardment, who had been displaced five times.

He said airstrikes had damaged hospitals and clinics and left agricultural land burned.

A new US-brokered ceasefire for Lebanon, announced on Wednesday and tied to Hezbollah withdrawing from southern areas, was rejected by the militant group, while Israel said it would not pull its troops out of the country.

Israeli strikes kill seven in south Lebanon

Overnight Israeli strikes on Tyre killed seven people, a civil defence source said.

Four were killed in an attack near Jabal Amel hospital. Seven others were wounded and the facility sustained light damage.

Three more people were killed and five injured, including two children, in a residential neighbourhood.

Jabal Amel hospital has been hit several times during the war, most recently on Monday, when four people were killed and 127 wounded, including 39 staff members.

The Israeli military issued fresh evacuation warnings for nine towns and villages in southern Lebanon, and the state-run National News Agency said residents were fleeing.

After Israeli orders to clear out most of Tyre, many residents sought refuge in the city’s small Old City, which has escaped both evacuation warnings and strikes. The Christian quarter is located there.

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With shelters already full, many displaced people have been sleeping in cars or tents, though reports said many have since left after the Israeli army claimed on Tuesday that Hezbollah members were operating in the area.

On Wednesday night, a drone strike hit near a park in Tyre where dozens of displaced Syrians were sheltering in tents, correspondent said.

Residents have organised a petition demanding that Tyre be declared an “open city” – with no armed presence other than Lebanon’s military.

About 250 people, including lawyers and intellectuals, have signed it.

Hezbollah maintains a strong presence in Tyre, and some of those who signed have come under online attack because of their position.

Another petition, this time for Nabatieh, a second major city in south Lebanon that has also been hit by Israeli attacks, has drawn more than 500 signatures.