Israel Kills Eight in Southern Lebanon Attacks After Trump De-Escalation Announcement

At least eight people were killed in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, according to the war-torn country’s National News Agency (NNA), hours after US President Donald Trump announced an agreement to de-escalate fighting that neither Israel nor the Lebanese group Hezbollah has publicly accepted.

“At least eight people have been killed in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, according to the war-torn country’s National News Agency (NNA), hours after US President Donald Trump announced an agreement to de-escalate fighting that neither Israel nor the Lebanese group Hezbollah has publicly accepted”

Al Jazeera

NNA said two Syrians were killed in an Israeli attack on a plant nursery where they were working in the town of Jebchit in the Nabatieh governorate, and it also reported two more strikes that killed two people in Toul and Ansar and a third strike near Harouf that killed one person.

Al Jazeera

Separately, NNA reported an Israeli drone strike hit a car on the road linking Marjayoun with Nabatieh, killing James Karam, a dentist from the nearby Christian municipality of Qlayaa, along with his daughter and son.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said the reported attack on Israel raised concerns about the situation and noted that “Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for any cross-border attacks since Trump’s announcement,” while it has claimed attacks against Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon.

Khodr also said the developments show “just how fragile this deal is,” as she described at least two soldiers killed in the last 24 hours in the area of Beaufort Castle, after Israeli troops seized the 900-year-old site and ridge in southern Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces announced the death of Captain Dr. Ori Yosef Silvester, 30, of Tel Aviv, describing him as a battalion physician with the Shaked Battalion (424) of the Givati Brigade who was killed on Monday in southern Lebanon after a Hezbollah explosive drone attack struck Israeli forces operating in the area.

i24NEWS said the IDF reported six additional soldiers wounded in that attack, with two officers and one soldier sustaining serious wounds and another soldier moderately injured, while two additional officers and one soldier suffered light injuries.

i24NEWS

سكاي نيوز عربية reported that the Israeli army announced on Friday the death of Staff Sergeant Negiv Dagan, 20, in southern Lebanon, raising Israeli casualties since the start of the war with Hezbollah in early March to 20.

عكاظ reported that a soldier with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed and two others were injured when artillery shells targeted their position near Marjayoun in southeastern Lebanon, and it quoted UNIFIL saying one of its personnel was killed early this morning as a result of serious injuries.

UNIFIL sources in عكاظ said there had been an uptick in the frequency of shelling and projectiles in southern Lebanon, calling on all parties to fulfill their commitments and ensure the safety of United Nations personnel.

Diplomatic efforts were underway as the fourth round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon began at the US State Department headquarters in Washington, with Lebanese negotiators set to seek a full ceasefire to prevent future attacks.

“The Israel Defense Forces announced that Captain Dr”

i24NEWS

The Al Jazeera report said the talks that began in April were the first in more than 30 years between the countries, which have no formal diplomatic relations, and it added that Hezbollah has rejected direct talks while counting on pressure from Iran.

In parallel, VOA Farsi said that on the eve of the meeting of Israeli and Lebanese military delegations at the Pentagon, scheduled for Friday, 8 Khordad, the Israeli army said it would widen the scope of its war against Hezbollah, and it described Israel declaring areas south of the Zahrani River, about 40 kilometers north of the Israeli border, a combat zone and ordering residents to evacuate northward.

VOA Farsi also said Israel carried out an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday, 7 Khordad, and it reported that Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people ahead of the security talks in Washington.

In the same broader context, Al Jazeera reported that Trump said he held separate phone calls with Benjamin Netanyahu and Hezbollah leaders and posted on Truth Social that “hopefully” Israel and Hezbollah would stop fighting “for ETERNITY!” while the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said the agreement would have Hezbollah no longer fire into Israel and the Israeli military cease striking the southern suburbs of Beirut.