STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We're keeping an eye on the Middle East war that has ended without ending. The ceasefire in Lebanon, for example, seems only technically still in effect.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Israel has carried out widespread airstrikes in Lebanon's south in recent days, forcing many civilians who had tried to return home to re-evacuate. Hezbollah has responded by firing several drones at Israeli troops occupying the South.
INSKEEP: Let's go to Lebanon, to Beirut, where we found NPR's Kat Lonsdorf. Hi, Kat.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning.
INSKEEP: OK. That doesn't really sound like much of a ceasefire if we're talking about drones, civilians evacuated, airstrikes.
LONSDORF: Yeah. It's confusing. I mean, basically, diplomatically, the ceasefire agreement is still holding, meaning that none of the parties involved - Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah - have officially declared it over. And there haven't been airstrikes here in Beirut, although, Steve, you know, as I'm sitting here talking to you, I'm hearing the buzz of Israeli surveillance drones above the city.
But elsewhere in the country, the attacks have been ramping up from both sides in the past few days. Israel has been carrying out multiple airstrikes a day against what it says are Hezbollah targets, mostly in the south, but they've been spreading to other parts of the country, too. And they're deadly. You know, 14 people were killed on Sunday alone, according to Lebanese officials. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has been carrying out drone strikes on Israeli troops. Over the weekend, one soldier was killed, and several more were wounded.
INSKEEP: OK. What do Lebanese people, then, say about these acts of war in the middle of a ceasefire?
LONSDORF: Yeah. We've been speaking to people in the south, where it really does not feel like a ceasefire. I was just there a few days ago, and even then, there were sporadic airstrikes. Those have intensified, and Israel has issued new evacuation orders for several communities beyond the zone it occupies. That means a lot of people are re-evacuating after trying to go back to their homes, even during the ceasefire, like 35-year-old Abed Ammar (ph).
ABED AMMAR: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: "How can you call this a ceasefire?" he asked us in a voice note. "If this was a ceasefire, we could be at home. This is not a ceasefire."
We just met him last week in his home village down south, where he had returned with his family, but he's just fled again after his village was shelled in the middle of the night.
INSKEEP: Let's just remember, then - Lebanon, of course, is one theater of the larger war that pitted the U.S. and Israel against Iran. The U.S. and...
LONSDORF: Right.
INSKEEP: ...Iran are supposed to be having peace talks, although they seem to have stalled in some way. What are you hearing there?
LONSDORF: Yeah. The talks between the U.S. and Iran really don't seem to be going anywhere right now. Iran has put forward a new proposal, the terms of which haven't been made public. And President Trump met with his national security team yesterday to discuss that proposal, according to the White House. But Iran has made it clear it won't discuss anything further until the U.S. ends its blockade on Iranian ports. The U.S. has said its main focus is ending Iran's nuclear program, so they seem to be at kind of an impasse there. And those talks are really connected to the situation here. You know, Iran, which is Hezbollah's main backer, has said it won't engage in further talks with the U.S. unless there's a ceasefire here. But the more it seems that those talks aren't happening, there's less pressure to keep this ceasefire holding.
INSKEEP: People must not be feeling very good about the situation where you are, given everything you've just described, Kat.
LONSDORF: No, certainly not. I think people here very much feel like, if talks fall apart between the U.S. and Iran, the war will almost certainly reignite in full here.
INSKEEP: NPR's Kat Lonsdorf is in Beirut. Thanks so much.
LONSDORF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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