Lebanese leaders in contact with US, France, to prevent Israeli strikes on Beirut

Lebanese leaders have been in intensive contact with Washington and Paris to prevent Israel from bombing Beirut, a Lebanese official says, after Israel responded to rocket fire on Saturday morning with strikes on the country.

It was the first time rockets were fired from Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect on November 27.

The official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, says Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam “made diplomatic contact with France and the United States… as well as with the UN, to achieve de-escalation following Israeli threats to target Beirut.”

The US, France, and the United Nations belong to a ceasefire monitoring mechanism.

During two months of full-scale war leading up to the ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes pounded the south Beirut bastion of Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group but sometimes also struck in the city center.

Salam “emphasized the need to control security and prevent a repeat of rocket fire” against Israel, the official adds.

No party has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which a military source said was launched from an area north of the Litani River, between the villages of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, near the zone covered by the ceasefire agreement.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.