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Evacuation, then strikes
Israel ordered residents of the southern Lebanese village of Al-Mansouri to evacuate before launching “precise strikes” in southern Lebanon, after the IDF said Hezbollah committed a “blatant violation of the ceasefire.”
“issuing an evacuation warning for the village of Al-Mansouri”
The IDF’s Arabic Spokesperson, Lt.-Col. Ella Waweya, issued the evacuation warning on X/Twitter instructing all residents to move at least 1,000 meters north of the village, warning that anyone who remains near Hezbollah facilities or terrorists is putting their life at risk.
The BBC reported that one person was killed in a strike in southern Lebanon and that 12 other people were injured when the roof of a prayer hall at the cemetery of the town of Tibnin was hit, citing Lebanon’s health ministry and Lebanese media.
The BBC also said the Israeli military announced it began carrying out “precise strikes” about 30 minutes after its Arabic spokesperson told residents of Mansouri to evacuate ahead of “forceful action.”
Competing accounts and politics
The Jerusalem Post said the IDF began its wave of strikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Wednesday after issuing the evacuation warning, describing the strikes as retaliation for “blatant ceasefire violations by Hezbollah.”
Ynetnews reported that the IDF urged powerful strikes in Lebanon in response to what it described as a “blatant” violation by Hezbollah, but the political echelon blocked the move and the military was instructed to settle for more limited strikes.
Ynetnews quoted the IDF Arabic-language spokesperson saying: “In response to a blatant violation of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the IDF has begun conducting precise strikes in southern Lebanon.”
The BBC added that Hezbollah “has not commented on the events,” and that the strikes came as Israeli and Lebanese officials attended US-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at maintaining the ceasefire.
What is at stake next
The BBC said the evacuation order came as Israeli and Lebanese officials attended US-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at maintaining the ceasefire, after a trilateral framework agreed in late June that should see Israel gradually withdraw from territory it is occupying in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament.
“in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah”
The Jerusalem Post described the Rome talks as following a US-brokered framework reached on June 26 calling for Hezbollah’s disarmament, the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces across southern Lebanon, and a gradual Israeli withdrawal, with negotiations focused on translating those principles into practical arrangements.
The Jerusalem Post also said that in July the IDF reported that troops operating in Haddatha had destroyed over 90 Hezbollah sites and located more than 150 weapons during a month of operations.
In the BBC’s account, the Lebanese army was allowed to deploy to one of the first “pilot zones” after Israeli troops pulled out of the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, while Hezbollah rejected the agreement saying the provisions linking Israel’s withdrawal to the group’s disarmament crossed “all red lines.”