West Asia conflict highlights: Four dead in Lebanon as Israel says action needed on Hezbollah arsenal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollahs rockets and drones were a key threat demanding military action as Israels army expanded strikes on Lebanon where authorities reported four dead on Monday despite a ceasefireLebanese President Joseph Aoun said direct talks with Israel sought to end the IsraelHezbollah war and that those who dragged Lebanon into it were the ones committing treason a jab at the Iranbacked group which claimed several attacks on Israeli targets in south Lebanon on MondayHezbollah chief Naim Qassem called direct talks between the two countries a sin while Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned the groups rejection of negotiations would bring catastrophic consequences for LebanonIsraeli and Lebanese representatives met twice in Washington this month the first such meetings in decades for discussions that Hezbollah has categorically rejectedAfter the first talks US President Donald Trump announced a 10day ceasefire that began on April 17 and a threeweek extension after the second roundNetanyahu said in a statement that there are still two central threats from Hezbollah the 122mm rockets and the drones This demands a combination of operational and technological activityIsraels army said it struck more than 20 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in eastern Lebanons Bekaa Valley and the countrys south on Monday including weapons storage facilities and rocket launch sitesUnder the ceasefire Israel reserves the right to act against planned imminent or ongoing attacksGrave sinLebanese state media reported Israeli airstrikes in multiple locations in south Lebanon including around a dozen sites in the eveningThe health ministry said Israeli strikes on the south killed four people on Monday including a woman and wounded 51 othersIsraeli strikes have killed at least 40 people in Lebanon since the truce began according to an AFP tally of health ministry figuresHezbollah said its fighters launched several attacks on Israeli troops including on an army bulldozer that it said was demolishing homes in the border town of Bint JbeilAoun said in a statement that my goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel similar to the armistice agreement of 1949 signed after the 1948 ArabIsraeli warI assure you that I will not accept reaching a humiliating agreement said AounEarlier Hezbollahs chief sharply criticised the government branding direct negotiations with Israel a grave sinWe categorically reject direct negotiations with Israel and those in power should know that their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves Qassem said in a statementHe urged authorities to back down from their grave sin that is putting Lebanon in a spiral of instabilityThe government cannot continue while it is neglecting Lebanons rights giving up land and confronting those resisting Israel he saidWe will not give up our weapons and the Israeli enemy will not remain on a single inch of our occupied landIsraeli troops who invaded south Lebanon after the war erupted on March 2 are operating inside an Israeliannounced yellow line a ribbon of Lebanese territory around 10 kilometres six miles deep along the border where Lebanese have been warned not to returnConsensusAoun said that what we are doing is not treason Rather treason is committed by those who take their country to war to achieve foreign interestsAoun has faced intense criticism from Hezbollah and its supportersThey say his push for direct talks with Israel lacks consensus among Lebanons communities the latest point of contention after the government decided to disarm the group last year and outlawed its military activities in MarchSome want to hold us accountable over the decision to go to negotiations on the grounds that there is no national consensus over the talks Aoun saidMy question to them is when you went to war did you first obtain national consensusHezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets towards Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in USIsraeli strikesKatz said Qassem was playing with fire and the fire will burn Hezbollah and all of LebanonWith AFP inputs