Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has accused Israel of responding to its offer to negotiate by intensifying air strikes, the latest of which killed a man riding a motorbike in southern Lebanon.Despite a November 2024 ceasefire, Israel has kept troops in five areas of southern Lebanon and has continued near-daily air strikes, repeatedly violating the truce. Israel claims it is targeting Hezbollah, but civilians have also been killed.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listAoun had called for negotiations with Israel in mid-October, after United States President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire in Gaza.“Lebanon is ready for negotiations to end the Israeli occupation, but any negotiation … requires mutual willingness, which is not the case,” Aoun said on Friday.Israel “is responding to this option by carrying out more attacks against Lebanon … and intensifying tensions”, he added during a meeting with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said an Israeli drone targeted a man on a motorbike in the village of Kunin on Friday. The Ministry of Public Health reported one person was killed and another wounded.The Israeli military claimed it had “eliminated … a Hezbollah maintenance officer” who was working to re-establish the group’s infrastructure sites in southern Lebanon.In a separate attack on Friday, a second strike targeted a building in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh, the NNA said, adding that a missile …
