BEIRUT (Dispatches) -- Israeli warplanes pounded southern Lebanon near the historic Shaqif Fortress on Thursday, detonating 700 tons of explosives after a U.S.-brokered disgraceful peace agreement between the Lebanese government and Israel.
The massive strikes targeted the villages of Yohmor al-Shaqif, Haddatha, and Kfar Tebni, sending towering plumes of smoke across the border region and triggering panic among residents already shattered by months of relentless bombardment.
Terrorist Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his criminal war minister Israel Katz admitted in a joint statement that the aggression had been scheduled earlier but was postponed due to the June 26 framework deal — a deal they now treat as worthless. 
“The military will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon and will continue to destroy all infrastructure to prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to restore its capabilities,” they declared, effectively tearing up the agreement’s central promise of Israeli withdrawal.
That deal, signed by Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington, called for a phased pullout of Israeli occupation forces alongside the deployment of the Lebanese army. But from the moment the ink dried, Israel has treated it as toilet paper — carrying out daily airstrikes, demolitions, and the burning of homes in border communities.
Official Lebanese figures put the staggering human cost since March 2 at 4,333 killed, over 12,236 wounded, and more than one million displaced — a humanitarian catastrophe enabled by U.S. complicity.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri delivered a blistering assessment on Friday, telling the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that “all evidence indicates Israel has no decision to withdraw from Lebanese territory before the elections.” 
He declared the agreement “stillborn”, saying the Zionist regime has buried it through systematic non-compliance.
Berri, who heads the Amal Movement, said Netanyahu faces a “serious risk of collapse”, explaining he is resorting to such genocidal measures which are new by the apartheid Israeli regime’s own brutal standards. 
Lebanese Army Commander General Rudolphe Haykal issued a stark warning that Israel is actively attempting to incite internal unrest in Lebanon. 
“The occupation persists in its attacks and repeated violations to obstruct the army’s efforts,” Haykal asserted, vowing that Lebanese forces remain ready to deploy to areas from which Israel withdraws — though those areas remain under Israeli control.
The United States, which brokered this disastrous agreement, has stood silent as Israel flouts its terms. 
Lebanese and Israeli officials are scheduled to meet indirectly in Rome on August 4 to discuss security arrangements. But with Israel ruling out any “additional withdrawals” and demanding “freedom of action” in Lebanese territory, those talks appear destined for farce.