Listen to Australian and world news and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
In Lebanon, sheer terror as Israel strikes.
Father: What is this?
Naya: I do not know.
Father: The sound of a strike yeah?
Naya: Yeah, I feel they have made a strike.
Father: We’ve heard it .
UPSOUND sounds of falling rockets on nearby buildings, Naya shouting as she and her father hide in a building entrance:
UPSOUND (English): Naya: ”Dad, look. What the fk? What the fk? Dad? Daddy!”
That young voice is 13-year-old Naya Fakih's, as Israeli-fired rockets strike building near Beirut's seafront, where she and her father were enjoying a walk.Several more strikes in Beirut and southern Lebanon follow.
The strikes came less than a day after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week pause in fighting, which many believed included a cessation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
However the US and Israel say it did not.
Vice President JD Vance says there appears to be some confusion.
"I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn't. We never made that promise, we never indicated that was going to be the case, what we said is that the ceasefire would be focused on Iran, and the ceasefire would be focused on America's allies, both Israel and the Gulf Arab states."
But Pakistan, which brokered the ceasefire deal, says it applied broadly across the region and included Lebanon.
As did Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saied Iravani.
In the aftermath, at least 300 people in Lebanon are dead, and more than 1,150 are wounded, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to residents of northern Israel, vowing operations against Hezbollah will continue.
“Dear residents of the north, I am proud of you. You continue to stand firm. I want to tell you, there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We continue to strike Hezbollah with force, and we will not stop until we restore your security. Our great achievements, both in Iran and against the axis of evil, have brought about a historic change in Israel’s status in the region. They have also led to changes in our relations with countries that did not exist before.”
But he also says he authorised talks with Lebanon aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants go ahead.
Mr Netanyahu says military pressure and diplomacy are now being pursued side by side.
“Following repeated appeals by the Lebanese government to open negotiations with us for peace, I instructed last night in the cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon in order to achieve two objectives: one, to disarm Hezbollah, and the second, a historic, sustainable peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon. Israel is stronger than ever, Iran is weaker than ever. I have already brought four peace agreements with Arab states, and I intend to bring more. Real peace, peace through strength.”
As the strikes continue, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the scale of the casualties over two days of strikes has overwhelmed hospitals and left parts of southern Lebanon cut off.
"Lebanese authorities are reporting to us that more than 200 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured. This has, of course, overwhelmed hospitals in the biggest wave of Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of this current escalation. Many others are feared to be trapped under rubble as rescuers attempt to reach them. And today we saw air raids on areas in Beirut's southern suburbs. Reports of the destruction of the Qasmiyeh coastal bridge in southern Lebanon have further isolated areas south of the Litani River. This has restricted people's movements and humanitarian access for at least 106,000 people."
Entire neighbourhoods have now been reduced to rubble, with parts of Beirut and southern Lebanon now resembling scenes seen in Gaza in recent months.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz says Hezbollah is under heavy pressure and claims the group is now seeking a ceasefire, although that claim has not been independently verified.
"More than 200 terrorists were eliminated yesterday, bringing the number of those eliminated in this campaign to over 1,400 more than twice the Second Lebanon War. The Hezbollah terrorist organization is pleading for a ceasefire, and its Iranian patrons are also pressuring and threatening out of heavy concern that Israel will crush Hezbollah.”
Those figures have not been independently verified either, and Israel has not provided evidence to support its classification of those killed.
Lebanon’s government is now turning to the United Nations.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says Beirut will file an urgent complaint, accusing Israel of violating international law.
"Submitting an urgent complaint to the UN Security Council regarding the escalation and expansion of Israeli attacks on Lebanon yesterday, Wednesday 8 April in the capital Beirut, resulting in a large number of civilian casualties. This dangerous escalation comes in defiance of all international and regional efforts to end the war in the region and blatantly disregards the principles of international law and international humanitarian law, indeed, it flagrantly violates them.”
The United Nations says diplomacy remains the only viable path.
"We obviously would welcome any direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon for the sake of both Israelis and Lebanese. And as we've been saying, there is no military solution to this conflict, and we hope the road to diplomacy will be taken.”
Diplomacy is now unfolding on multiple tracks.
Talks on a longer-term US-Iran agreement are expected to take place in Pakistan, with Vice President J-D Vance leading the American delegation.
Separate talks between Israel and Lebanon are expected in Washington next week.
So while leaders prepare for negotiations, the situation on the ground remains volatile.
For governments, this is about ceasefires, terms and leverage.
For civilians in Beirut, it is much more immediate.
It is the sound of strikes landing without warning.
And for Naya Fakih and her father, it is the experience of sheer terror, with no clear sense of when it will end.
