JAKARTA - Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a televised speech on Sunday that he was trying to stop the Israel-Hezbollah war, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his troops in southern Lebanon that the fighting there was far from over.
"We will continue to work to stop this war, to ensure Israel's withdrawal from all our territories," Prime Minister Salam said in a speech ahead of the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, AFP reported (13/4).
"We continue to pursue our efforts to negotiate to stop the war," he added, ahead of planned talks between Lebanon, Israel and the United States in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.
The Health Ministry said at least six people were killed on Sunday in the south, including a Red Cross paramedic, after "Israeli enemies directly targeted the Lebanese Red Cross ambulance team."
Meanwhile, the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said an Israeli tank hit their vehicle on two occasions, "in one case causing significant damage."
Israel itself had previously said a fragile temporary ceasefire in the wider Middle East war did not apply to its battle with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, and continued its offensive against the country as the militants fought back.
Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East conflict when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel after a US-Israeli attack killed Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has responded with massive strikes and ground invasions.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes on more than 30 locations in the south on Sunday, with additional strikes in the adjacent Western Bekaa area.
The Ministry of Health has raised the number of deaths from the war to 2,055, including 165 children and at least 87 health workers, since March 2.
The ministry also said the Israeli attack on Qana killed five people, including three women, and wounded 25 others.
The Health Ministry promised to "pursue international legal action to ensure accountability for this crime" against emergency workers, after a Red Cross paramedic was killed in a separate attack, a day after three other rescue workers were killed in an Israeli attack.
The Israeli military has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using ambulances for military purposes.
On Sunday, Israeli soldiers also accused Hezbollah of using a hospital complex in Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon, "for military purposes."
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had launched attacks on Israeli targets across the border and inside Lebanon, including against forces in Bint Jbeil, where NNA reported fierce fighting.
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