Israel pursuing ‘scorched earth’ policy, says Lebanon PM, as more airstrikes hit country’s south

Lebanon’s prime minister accused Israel on Saturday of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” in his country’s south, urging a halt to the fighting as Israel carried out fresh airstrikes and issued evacuation warnings for more than a dozen locations. A day after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , said his forces had advanced deeper into Lebanon, his counterpart Nawaf Salam warned the country was facing a “dangerous” escalation, and called for “a swift and real ceasefire”. In a televised address, Salam accused Israel of “pursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” by “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile”. This will bring “neither security nor stability” to Israel, he said. Still, he defended his government’s engagement with its southern neighbour, after military delegations from both countries held security talks in Washington on Friday, with more US-brokered negotiations planned next week. Salam said the outcome of the negotiations was “not guaranteed”, but called them “the least costly path for our country and our people”. A truce to halt the fighting between Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah officially took effect on 17 April, but has never been observed. Both Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other of violating the ceasefire and justify their attacks by the other’s alleged breaches. …