Lebanese President Says Beaufort Blasts Threaten Framework Deal

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the large Israeli demolitions at Beaufort Castle constituted a highly dangerous escalation and directly threatened the Israel-Lebanon framework process. Citing Lebanon's National Center for Geophysics, he said the blasts generated ground waves equivalent to a magnitude-3.8 tremor. Aoun said the timing, ahead of the next Rome session on implementing the trilateral framework, sent negative signals and undermined international stabilization efforts. He called on the framework's sponsors and the international community to halt what he described as violations endangering diplomatic progress and security in southern Lebanon.