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Israeli Strikes Wound Dozens in Lebanon as Talks in US Enter Second Day

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Wound Dozens in Lebanon as Talks in US Enter Second Day

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on May 15, 2026. (AFP)

Israel carried out new strikes in southern Lebanon that it said targeted the Hezbollah group on Friday, wounding 37 people as the two countries' envoys started a second day of peace talks in Washington. 

United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza condemned the "unacceptable" toll from continued attacks, saying that "diplomatic efforts now offer a critical opportunity to stop the violence". 

A truce in the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah has been in place since April 17, but it has not stopped the fighting, with hundreds killed in strikes since then and both sides accusing the other of violations. 

"The army has begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon," the Israeli military said in a statement. 

An AFP correspondent reported a series of strikes, two of them near Tyre city, while state media said another targeted a center run by a local NGO near a hospital. 

Lebanon's health ministry said the strikes on the Tyre district wounded at least 37 people, including six hospital personnel, nine women and four children. 

Hafez Ramadan, a resident near the building targeted by the airstrike, said the building housed displaced people who had fled their towns due to the war, and was adjacent to a hotel where the displaced were also staying. 

"There are only women, children and the elderly here. Because of this strike, people have been displaced again." 

The Israeli army had earlier issued evacuation warnings for five towns and villages in and around the southern city. 

It later issued a new evacuation warning for five other towns across the south. 

- 'Unacceptable' toll - 

In a separate statement, the military said an Israeli soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of Israeli soldiers killed in clashes with Hezbollah since early March to 19. A civilian contractor was also killed. 

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported other strikes on locations in the south not included in the Israeli evacuation warnings. 

Hezbollah meanwhile claimed several attacks on Israeli troops in at least six southern Lebanese towns. 

Riza said "the reality on the ground in Lebanon has been deeply alarming", adding that "airstrikes and demolitions continue daily, with an unacceptable toll on civilians and civilian infrastructure". 

But he expressed his hope that the Lebanon-Israel talks "will pave the way toward a political solution". 

Representatives from Lebanon and Israel, officially at war for decades, resumed talks at the State Department in Washington shortly after 9:00 am (1300 GMT), one diplomat said. 

The US described the first day of talks in Washington on Thursday as positive, but neither Lebanon or Israel have commented. 

Lebanon hopes that the round of negotiations in Washington on Friday will end with an extension of the ceasefire and an agreement from Israel to halt its attacks. 

The truce is set to expire on Sunday if an extension is not agreed. 

- 'Humiliating' talks - 

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei. 

Israeli attacks since then have killed more than 2,900 people in Lebanon, including more than 400 since the truce took effect, according to Lebanese authorities. 

The negotiating teams in Washington are being led by Lebanon's Simon Karam and Israel's Yechiel Leiter, both political veterans with entrenched views. 

A former ambassador to Washington and independent politician, 76-year-old Karam is known for his defense of Lebanese unity in a country riven by sectarian divisions. 

Leiter is Israel's ambassador to the United States and a longtime ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is well-versed in Israeli settler politics, conservative activism and hard-edged diplomacy. 

Lebanon is under heavy US and Israeli pressure to disarm Hezbollah. 

Israeli troops have invaded parts of southern Lebanon since the start of the war, carrying out widespread demolitions of villages over the past weeks. 

Hezbollah, meanwhile, rejects outright any direct engagement between the two countries. 

Senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qamati said Friday that Beirut "going to direct, humiliating negotiations with the Israeli enemy is not a separate issue from a comprehensive conspiracy against the nation, its sovereignty and its resistance" at a time when "the south is being destroyed and martyrs are being killed daily". 

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Arab World

Egyptian Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Syria Nominates New Ambassador Instead of Al-Ahmad, Approval Under Way

Egyptian Foreign Minister and his Syrian counterpart during a previous meeting in Cairo. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister and his Syrian counterpart during a previous meeting in Cairo. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
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Egyptian Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Syria Nominates New Ambassador Instead of Al-Ahmad, Approval Under Way

Egyptian Foreign Minister and his Syrian counterpart during a previous meeting in Cairo. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Egyptian Foreign Minister and his Syrian counterpart during a previous meeting in Cairo. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

The crisis surrounding Syria's nomination of Mohammad Taha Al-Ahmad as its ambassador to Egypt, first revealed in an Asharq Al-Awsat report published on June 1, appears to be heading toward a resolution. An Egyptian official source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Cairo has received the name of a new nominee from the Syrian side and is in the process of approving him.

Asharq Al-Awsat previously published a widely discussed report on what it described as "Egyptian reservations" that had delayed Cairo's acceptance of several members of the Syrian diplomatic mission. At the time, an informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat that there were objections to some members of the delegation, including Egypt's refusal to approve Syria's nominee for ambassador to Cairo.

The source explained in the June 1 report that the Syrian government had formally nominated Mohammad Taha Al-Ahmad as ambassador to Egypt. While the Egyptian government did not explicitly reject the nomination, it conveyed unofficial messages indicating that it did not consider him an acceptable candidate because of his political background.

Mohammad Taha Al-Ahmad currently serves as director of the Arab Affairs Department at Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates. He earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Aleppo in 2007, a master's degree in the financial and economic evaluation of agricultural projects from Cairo University in 2012, and a doctorate in agricultural development from the University of Idlib in 2020.

He held several ministerial positions in the Syrian Salvation Government before being appointed to his current position at the Foreign Ministry in May 2025. The following month, he was appointed head of the People's Assembly election committee.

The Syrian foreign minister during talks in Cairo last month. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Another Nominee

An Egyptian official source told Asharq Al-Awsat that "the Syrian government has submitted another nominee to head the Syrian diplomatic mission in Cairo," noting that "the process is moving toward approval of the new nominee by the Egyptian authorities."

The source said that "matters are proceeding normally and positively with the Syrian side," without disclosing the nominee's identity.

Since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad, Egyptian-Syrian relations have been marked by cautious bilateral engagement, driven by Cairo's concerns over the issue of armed groups, before gradually shifting toward economic cooperation.

In late April, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the Arab-European Consultative Summit in Cyprus. Media outlets in both Cairo and Damascus reported at the time that the two presidents held a "cordial discussion" on regional developments and ways to strengthen cooperation.

While the Egyptian source declined to reveal the name of the new nominee to head Syria's diplomatic mission in Cairo, Firas Al-Khalidi, coordinator of the Cairo Platform, a member of Syria's Constitutional Committee and a member of the Syrian Negotiations Commission, said that "the Syrian side has nominated Yahya Diab, a former diplomat who defected from Bashar Al-Assad's regime, as ambassador to Cairo."

Al-Khalidi told Asharq Al-Awsat that "the Egyptian side has accepted Diab's nomination to head the Syrian mission in Cairo."

The crisis over Syria's ambassadorial nomination to Cairo appears to be heading toward a resolution. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Cautious Relations

Former Egyptian assistant foreign minister Ambassador Hussein Haridy said that "the Egyptian government has the right to reject any nominee to head a diplomatic mission, or any other diplomat, if it possesses information indicating that the nominee engaged in activities affecting its national security."

Haridy told Asharq Al-Awsat that "the Syrian side publicly announced Mohammad Taha Al-Ahmad's nomination to the embassy in Cairo before obtaining Egypt's approval," describing the move as contrary to established diplomatic practice.

In Haridy's view, "relations between Cairo and Damascus will remain cautious given the background of the current Syrian government."

He said that "the Egyptian side distinguishes between the historic people-to-people relationship between the two countries and its channels of communication with Syria's current government. There remain areas for cooperation between Cairo and Damascus, particularly at the economic level."

In January, Damascus hosted the first Egyptian-Syrian Economic and Investment Forum, with the participation of 26 leaders from Egyptian chambers of commerce and business organizations. The event aimed to build effective partnerships between the two countries' commercial chambers and explore opportunities for cooperation in trade, industry, services, infrastructure and reconstruction.

At the time, the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce said that the forum sought to create Syrian-Egyptian-European alliances through the Union of Mediterranean Chambers and to promote Syrian exports to Africa through the Federation of African Chambers.

Arab World

Lebanon Launches Rehabilitation of its Second Airport

An aerial view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows smoke rising, after Israeli strikes following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)
An aerial view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows smoke rising, after Israeli strikes following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Launches Rehabilitation of its Second Airport

An aerial view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows smoke rising, after Israeli strikes following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)
An aerial view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows smoke rising, after Israeli strikes following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Lebanon launched the rehabilitation of its second airport on Saturday, in preparation for an opening within months, at a time when the country faces constant fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

Lebanon currently has one international airport, in Beirut next to the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that has been subjected to heavy Israeli bombardment during successive wars.

The new airport, in the town of Qlayaat in Lebanon's northernmost province of Akkar, near the border with Syria, has been used as a military base by the Lebanese army for decades, according to AFP.

Lebanese Minister of Transport and Public Works Fayez Rasamny inaugurated the airport on Saturday "after more than fifty years of promises, delays and waiting".

"Today we are moving from promise to execution," Rasamny said, adding that the goal is for the airport to be "operational in a few weeks" to serve travellers to Mersin, Istanbul and Dubai, adding there are plans to expand the destinations to Saudi Arabia, Cairo and Athens at a later stage.

Lebanon is also in contact with low-cost airlines, such as Ryanair and Pegasus, he said.

Rehabilitation is due to begin next week and will take at least three months, going through a pilot phase before the airport is put into full service in November 2026, according to local media.

The work is being carried out by the Lebanese company Sky Lounge, which on Saturday posted on its Instagram page a video of a test flight between Beirut airport and Qlayaat airport.

In a speech during the opening ceremony, the company's chairman, Ziad Munla, said, the passenger terminal will be completed "within 90 days after completing the required approvals and licenses".

The airport will be able to handle about 114,000 passengers in its first year, rising to more than 600,000 by its fourth year, he said.

The opening of the airport aims to create jobs in Akkar, one of Lebanon's poorest governorates with a high unemployment rate.

Rene Mouawad Airport, named after a former Lebanese president who was elected in the 1980s, was built by the French army as an airstrip in the 1930s.

It was used for civilian purposes in the 1960s and was bombed by Israel during an earlier war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Beirut airport has continued to operate despite during the Israel-Hezbollah war that began on March 2, and an earlier war in 2023 and 2024.

Lebanon has been forced to repeatedly pursue international guarantees that Israel will not target Beirut airport, which it has previously accused Hezbollah of using to transport money and weapons.

Lebanese authorities have repeatedly denied the Israeli allegations.

Arab World

Araghchi Urges Lebanon President to Save Country From 'Real Foe'

FILED - 27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: FILE PHOTO - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives for a meeting in Saint Petersburg. Photo: -/Kremlin/dpa
FILED - 27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: FILE PHOTO - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives for a meeting in Saint Petersburg. Photo: -/Kremlin/dpa
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Araghchi Urges Lebanon President to Save Country From 'Real Foe'

FILED - 27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: FILE PHOTO - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives for a meeting in Saint Petersburg. Photo: -/Kremlin/dpa
FILED - 27 April 2026, Russia, Saint Petersburg: FILE PHOTO - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives for a meeting in Saint Petersburg. Photo: -/Kremlin/dpa

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday urged Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to save Lebanon from its "real foe," Israel, a day after Aoun called on Tehran to stop interfering in his country's affairs.

"Based on Mr. Aoun's comments, one would think it's Iran that has occupied one-fifth of Lebanon, displaced one-quarter of its population and is bombing the country on a daily basis," Araghchi wrote on X.

"If Lebanon were a bargaining chip for Iran, we would have reached an agreement long ago. Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President," he added.

Aoun, in an interview broadcast Friday by CNN, called on Iran to stop "interfering" in Lebanon's affairs following the collapse of a new truce announced by Washington between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

"This is not your country. It is our country, our responsibility, and your role is not to interfere in our affairs," Aoun said.

"It is our people who are being killed, and our homes that are being destroyed," he added.

The Lebanese president has faced opposition from Hezbollah and segments of Lebanese public opinion since the launch of direct negotiations with Israel, the first such talks between the two countries in decades. Lebanon and Israel do not maintain diplomatic relations.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also urged Iran to stop using Lebanon as a "card" to improve its negotiating position in talks with the United States.

Tehran has demanded that any agreement with Washington to end the war that began on Feb. 28 with a US-Israeli bombing campaign include a ceasefire on the Lebanese front and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The conflict in Lebanon erupted on March 2 after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in response to the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Israel responded with a broad campaign of air strikes and ground incursions in southern Lebanon.

According to the latest official figures cited by AFP, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 3,560 people since the conflict began. On the Israeli side, 27 soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed in Lebanon.