Beirut: Lebanon’s prime minister has accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” in the country’s south as fresh Israeli air strikes hit towns and evacuation warnings covered more than a dozen locations, AFP reported.
“Israel is pursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment,” Nawaf Salam said in a televised address, accusing Israeli forces of “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile.” He warned the campaign would bring “neither security nor stability” to Israel and urged “a swift and real ceasefire.”
US‑Brokered Talks
The May 30 comments followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that his forces had advanced deeper into Lebanon. Salam defended his government’s engagement with Israel, saying military delegations from both sides held security talks in Washington on May 29 and that more US-brokered negotiations were planned next week. He said the outcome of the negotiations was “not guaranteed,” but called them “the least costly path for our country and our people.”
A truce intended to halt fighting between Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah took effect on April 17 but has never been fully observed, with both sides accusing the other of violations. A US statement after the May 29 Israel-Lebanon talks made no mention of the truce but said
the “productive military-to-military discussions” would inform next week’s political meeting. Hezbollah vehemently opposes direct talks.
Escalation On The Ground
Fresh attacks were reported across southern Lebanon on May 30. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported several Israeli attacks in the south, and the Lebanese military said two of its soldiers “were seriously wounded… by a hostile Israeli drone” near the southern city of Nabatieh. The Israeli military issued fresh evacuation warnings covering villages near Nabatieh and others in the east of the country.
Hezbollah said it launched multiple attacks targeting northern Israel on May 30, and had also clashed with Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon. In a statement, the group said it was confronting Israeli forces around the outskirts of the towns of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Yohmor al-Shaqif and Dibbine, adding the troops “had not yet succeeded in taking control of the towns.”
Cross‑Border Exchanges
The Israeli military reported more than 25 projectiles launched from Lebanon toward Israel on May 30, and the army’s Home Front Command said air‑raid sirens sounded in Karmiel and Safed for the first time since the ceasefire. Broadcast footage shared on social media showed rockets splashing into the sea off Nahariya, forcing beachgoers to flee. On May 29, Netanyahu said Israeli forces had advanced beyond the Litani River, roughly 30km north of the frontier, and were “hitting Hezbollah head on.”
Civilian Toll
Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,371 people since March 2, after Hezbollah’s involvement pulled Lebanon into the wider Middle East war supporting Iran. Hezbollah says its assaults on Israel were retaliation for the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US‑Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. Iran maintains that any ceasefire for the wider war must include provisions covering Lebanon.