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Airstrikes hit southern towns
Israeli air and artillery attacks targeted towns in southern Lebanon including Al-Mansouri and Burj al-Shamali, with Pars Today citing IRIB News saying the strikes began as a new wave early Thursday.
“Israeli air and artillery attacks on the towns of Al-Mansouri, Burj al-Shamali”
Pars Today reported that Israeli fighter jets bombed Al-Mansouri while Israeli artillery resumed attacks on the Al-Mansouri communal area with heavy shelling and intense fire.
In the Tyre district, Burj al-Shamali came under several attacks as local sources said Israeli drones targeted an area in the town on three occasions followed by another strike by Israeli fighter jets.
Masrawy said the escalation also affected areas in the provinces of Sidon (Saida) and Nabatieh, reporting that Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of al-Hinnya and the surroundings of Majdal Zoun, as well as the valley of Zbibin.
Masrawy further reported that Israeli raids in the Sidon district injured three people in Biran al-Shamali, while Israeli media reported the killing of two soldiers and the injury of seven others from the 55th Brigade in a bomb blast inside a booby-trapped building in Majdal Zoun.
Rome talks amid escalation
The escalation unfolded as negotiations in Rome continued under U.S. sponsorship, with Ici Beyrouth saying talks were held in Rome under American mediation to consolidate the ceasefire reached in June.
صوت بيروت إنترناشونال described the southern escalation as threatening the Rome negotiations, saying the sessions were adjourned in the afternoon before their scheduled end as a forewarning of the impact of southern field developments on the talks.
In that same account, Hizbullah Secretary-General Naim Qassem accused the Lebanese political authority of being “a ally to Israel instead of becoming a support for Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
Prime Minister Naif Salam responded by saying, “The greatest aid to Israel was provided by those who alone dragged Lebanon into reckless wars, giving it pretexts to attack our country, trample its sovereignty, destroy its cities and towns, kill its sons and displace them by the hundreds of thousands.”
Ici Beyrouth added that the Israeli army accused Hezbollah of a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire agreement after two reservists were killed in Majdal Zoun, and then launched a broad wave of strikes on several sectors of southern Lebanon.
Evacuations and casualties
Multiple outlets described Israeli warnings and displacement in southern Lebanon, with Ici Beyrouth saying the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army urged residents of Mansouri to immediately evacuate their homes “for their safety.”
“urged the residents of Mansouri to immediately evacuate their homes “for their safety,””
Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that the Israeli army warned residents of Al-Mansouri in the Sidon District to evacuate and stay away from the village to the north for a distance of no less than 1,000 meters into open lands, causing 15 families to depart before targeted strikes began.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi said the Israeli air force carried out two airstrikes on the Mansouri–Majdal Zoun outreach and another strike on the prayer hall in the town of Tibnin, Nabatieh, causing the death of a martyr and 11 injuries.
Ici Beyrouth said the Israeli army confirmed the death of two reservists, Reserve Major Harel Birenstock, 34, and Reserve Sergeant Tamir Vaknin, 33, after an explosive device detonated as they were inspecting a booby-trapped building in Majdal Zoun.
Al-Manar TV Lebanon reported Israeli artillery shelling of Al-Mansouri, while Ici Beyrouth said four other reservists were seriously wounded and evacuated to hospitals in Israel.
