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Four killed in strikes
Israeli air attacks on Lebanon killed at least four people and wounded 20 others in southern Lebanon on Sunday, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry and the country’s National News Agency (NNA).
“Israeli air attacks have killed at least four people and wounded 20 others in southern Lebanon”
The strikes began at dawn and hit Nabatieh, Arab Salim, Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Reman, as NNA reported.
France 24 reported that Israel’s military said the strikes were a response to an alleged Hezbollah drone launch targeting troops in the Israeli-occupied “security zone” in the country’s south.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported two people killed in Nabatieh al-Fawqa and two women killed in nearby Arab Salim, while it said 20 other people, including several women and three children, were wounded in those locations as well as in the city of Nabatieh and the town of Kfar Rumman.
The NNA said that after an Israeli evacuation warning for a building identified as a Hezbollah “facility” in Arab Salim, “enemy warplanes launched a strike on another house, destroying it” and killing the two women.
Hezbollah drone claim
Israel’s military said it struck southern Lebanon after Hezbollah militants launched two drones at IDF soldiers in the Israeli-occupied buffer zone, and it described the move as a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement.
Haaretz reported that Israeli strikes killed four and wounded at least 20 others in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning, citing the country’s Health Ministry.
France 24 said Israel’s military issued its first “evacuation” notice in Lebanon in several weeks, warning residents near a building it identified as a Hezbollah “facility” in Arab Salim to leave their homes.
The NNA said that after the Israeli warning for the building, “enemy warplanes launched a strike on another house, destroying it” and killing the two women, and it added that the Israeli military subsequently “carried out a strike on the home” threatened in the evacuation warning.
In parallel, the Daily Pioneer said Israel carried out the strikes despite an ongoing truce, with the Lebanese authorities attributing the casualties to strikes that began at dawn and targeted Nabatieh, Arab Salim, Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Reman.
Ali al-Taher stakes
Beyond Sunday’s strikes, multiple reports tied the fighting to Israel’s control of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge near Nabatieh, with PBS describing how Israel and Hezbollah battle over the hill months after a ceasefire went into effect.
“had taken "operational control" of Ali Taher and a network of tunnels beneath it”
PBS said Israel’s military announced it had taken “operational control” of Ali Taher and a network of tunnels beneath it that Hezbollah uses to shelter its fighters and weapons, while it noted it was unclear how far Israel’s control extends.
Al Jazeera said Israel is still operating inside a self-declared “security zone” about 10km (six miles) deep inside Lebanon, and it reported that Israel is considering pulling its troops closer to the border.
Al Jazeera also reported that Hezbollah condemned Israel’s campaign as taking place amid “complete international silence and blatant American complicity,” and it reiterated the group’s rejection of Beirut’s “fruitless direct negotiations” with Israel.
The stakes described in the sources include continued civilian impact in southern villages and towns, with Lebanon saying Israeli attacks have killed more than 4,300 people and driven more than a million more from their homes, while violence has lessened since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June and a framework agreement later that month.