Doha talks: Anticipation and hope for Gaza truce extends to southern Lebanon

At a time when all eyes turned to Doha, anticipating the outcome of the new round of talks on reaching a six-week truce in the Gaza Strip, political sources confirmed to "Al-Joumhouria" that they are confident that this truce, despite the high tone of threats issued by Israel, will automatically include the southern Lebanese front.

This article is originally published in, translated from Lebanese newspaper Al-Joumhouria.

The sources revealed that "the inclusion of Lebanon in the truce was affirmed by international envoys, who also emphasized to senior officials that it is possible if Hezbollah ceases its military operations immediately upon announcing the Gaza truce. The Americans reiterated that they do not expect Israel to resort to escalation."

While awaiting the trajectory of truce negotiations, which this week will determine whether they will lean towards cooling down or continuing escalation, tension remained high on the southern border due to ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanese areas. 

These attacks included Israeli warplanes bombing on Monday the towns of Meiss El-Jabal, Odeisseh, and Ayta al-Shaab and artillery shelling around the villages of Al-Arkoub, Hamames Hill, Khiam, Odeisseh, Kfarkela, and Markaba.

The Israeli army announced that it targeted Hezbollah positions in the town of Odeisseh, while Israeli media reported that sirens sounded in the Hula Valley and the Galilee Panhandle due to the entry of a drone that the Iron Dome shot down.