Israeli strike kills Lebanese security forces as Israel and Hezbollah
trade fire ahead of talks
[April 11, 2026]
By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
BEIRUT (AP) — Attacks intensified Friday between Israel and the Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah ahead of direct talks between the Lebanese
government and Israel set to begin next week.
The talks are set to begin Tuesday in Washington and will be mediated by
U.S. diplomats, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's office said in a
statement, citing the outcome of a call Friday among Israeli, Lebanese
and U.S. ambassadors. The statement reiterated Beirut's position that
the talks be held under a ceasefire or truce.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter later issued a statement
describing next Tuesday's talks as “formal peace negotiations," but said
a ceasefire was not on the agenda, in a stark contradiction to Aoun's
remarks.
“Israel refused to discuss a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist
organization, which continues to attack Israel and is the main obstacle
to peace between the two countries,” the statement read.
At least 13 members of Lebanon's State Security forces were killed in an
Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Friday, while Hezbollah claimed an
attack targeting a naval base in the Israeli port city of Ashdod some
145 kilometers (90 miles) from the border.
Israel launched strikes across several towns in southern Lebanon,
including one on a government building in the southern city of Nabatieh
that killed the government security personnel. Hezbollah claimed 31
other attacks on northern Israel and on Israeli ground troops that have
invaded southern Lebanon.
Israel launched its latest aerial campaign and a ground invasion of
southern Lebanon after Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel in
solidarity with Iran, its key ally and patron, on March 2.
At least 1,953 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes,
according to the Health Ministry. At least 303 were killed in a rapid
series of 100 strikes that hit the country — including multiple areas in
dense residential and commercial areas in central Beirut — in 10 minutes
on Wednesday, the bloodiest day in the latest war between the two sides.
Civil Defense first responders are still searching for bodies trapped
under the rubble in the Lebanese capital.
Meanwhile, officials at Beirut's main government-run hospital on the
southern edge of the capital fear it could be in the line of fire after
the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the surrounding
suburbs, including the busy neighborhood of Jnah where the hospital is
located. Israel has launched attacks in Jnah, both with and without
warning.
The World Health Organization has since called for the Rafik Hariri
University Hospital to be spared from attacks and not to evacuate, and
WHO officials said Friday that they received assurances that it would
not be struck. The hospital has not evacuated, though staff are fearful,
as getting to work now requires them to drive on roads that can be
struck at any time says Dr. Mohammad Cheaito, who heads the emergency
department.
“The entire zone around the hospital was threatened and deemed
dangerous,” he told The Associated Press. “But at the end of the day, we
have a humanitarian duty.”
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Hezbollah supporters shout slogans during a protest against the
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in front the government palace
in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio
Morenatti)
Lebanon hopes for truce while Hezbollah supporters reject talks
Lebanon's authorities have not yet commented on Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement on Thursday of the
decision to go ahead with talks. Netanyahu said the talks would
revolve around disarming Hezbollah and establishing “peaceful
relations” between the two countries.
A Lebanese official in government familiar with the developments
said that a halt in the fighting is a critical condition for the
country to engage in direct talks with Israel, similar to the one
between the U.S. and Iran. It has yet to appoint a representative
for negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with
regulations.
Aoun had initially proposed the direct talks early on in the war on
similar terms, at the time hoping for Israel to stop an escalation
in airstrikes and to not invade the country. At the time, with only
the backing of France, that failed.
On Wednesday, the U.S. and Iran announced a temporary ceasefire in
the war that began on Feb. 28. It included Lebanon and other
countries impacted in the wider regional conflict, mediator Pakistan
announced. However, Israel — and later the United States — denied
this. They want to separate the diplomatic tracks of the two wars.
Hezbollah considers Israel's attacks on Lebanon to be a violation of
the ceasefire, while Beirut, in a bid to disarm Hezbollah and assert
its full sovereignty over the country, says it wants to be included
in talks related to Lebanon.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Kassem in a statement broadcast
Thursday did not directly mention the prospect of Israel-Lebanon
talks, but called on the Lebanese government to “stop giving free
concessions” to Israel.
Dozens of supporters of the Iran-backed group protested outside of
the Lebanese prime minister's office in central Beirut. They see the
scheduled direct talks as a surrender to Israel, which says its
troops will stay in the country indefinitely.
“Our blood has been spilled on this land, and our state is
conspiring against us,” said protester Hassan Shuaib. “Our state
wants to kill us; our state wants to strip us of our weapons.”
———
Associated Press producer Malak Harb and video journalist Fadi Tawil
in Beirut, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
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