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Explosion Kills Reservists
Two Israeli reservists were killed and four other soldiers were injured after an explosive device detonated inside a booby-trapped building during an Israeli operation in the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun on Wednesday.
“Maj. Harel Birenstock, 34, of Nokdim, and Master Sgt. (Res.) Tamir Vaknin, 33, of Eilat died”
The Israeli army said it opened an investigation into whether the explosive device had been emplaced before the ceasefire or planted afterward, and it also examined the possibility that Hezbollah operatives remotely detonated the device after spotting Israeli soldiers operating at the site.
The deaths came as Israel and Lebanon continued indirect negotiations aimed at advancing a June framework agreement, with the two sides holding their seventh round of US-brokered talks in Rome.
In parallel, the Israeli military accused Hezbollah of a “blatant violation of the ceasefire” and launched strikes across the surrounding area following the blast.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli air strike on the town of Tibnin hit the roof of a cemetery prayer hall, killing one person and injuring 12 others, as the border violence continued alongside the talks.
Accusations and Displacement
After the explosion, the Israeli military announced it had begun carrying out what it described as “precise strikes” across southern Lebanon, saying the attacks were launched in response to a “blatant violation of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation”.
Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Ella Waweya, issued renewed forced displacement orders for residents of al-Mansouri, urging them to head north before further strikes.
In Rome, negotiations were expected to run through Thursday, with Beirut pushing for a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and an end to Israeli attacks.
The Media Line said the IDF released the names of the two reservists and that funerals for Birenstock and Vaknin were scheduled to take place Thursday.
Al Jazeera also quoted Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem saying the talks would bring “nothing but shame, humiliation” and successive concessions for Lebanon.
Gaza Echo and Wider Toll
The Guardian described the June ceasefire as still fragile, saying an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed one person and injured 11, and it cited the Lebanese ministry of health for the casualty figures.
“Israel carried out an airstrike in the town of Tebnine, south Lebanon hitting a cemetery”
The Guardian linked Israel’s approach in Lebanon to Gaza, saying Israel occupies more than 60% of the strip under what it calls its “yellow line,” and continues to carry out bombings there.
It also reported that more than 1,200 people have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the October ceasefire and that at least 26 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes in the strip over the past weekend.
In Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed at least 4,333 people and wounded 12,250 others, a toll that Al Jazeera and other outlets carried as the backdrop to the latest border incident.
With the talks in Rome as the immediate channel for a ceasefire framework, the sources also described competing goals, with the Lebanese government seeking Israel’s withdrawal while Israel wants the disarmament of Hezbollah.
