Israeli Forces Advance Beyond Litani River, Poised to Encircle Nabatieh

Israeli forces advanced beyond the Litani River in southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006 and appeared poised to encircle Nabatieh, a city described as key to southern Lebanon’s economy and a cultural hub.

Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from the southern city of Tyre, said Israel was expanding its air campaign and encircling Nabatieh, adding: “It looks like Israel is trying to make this final push to encircle Nabatieh,”.

Al Jazeera

Lebanon’s military said “two soldiers were seriously wounded” after being targeted inside a vehicle by a hostile Israeli drone near Nabatieh, while Lebanon’s National News Agency reported at least one paramedic was killed and four others injured in a drone attack on Jebchit.

The fighting also included Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling near Beaufort castle, which overlooks large parts of southern Lebanon and was held by Israeli forces for 18 years until they withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000.

Israel issued evacuation orders for at least 10 villages in southern Lebanon as it expanded its invasion, with the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warning residents they could be killed if they remained.

In Washington, Lebanese and Israeli military officials held direct talks at the Pentagon, and the Pentagon said the discussions were “productive” while focusing on building practical frameworks for regional security and stability.

Al Jazeera

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced what he described as Israel’s “dangerous and unprecedented” escalation in the south, urging an immediate ceasefire and insisting that a “scorched-earth policy” would not ensure Israel’s security.

The talks were complicated by Hezbollah’s nonparticipation, and a senior Lebanese military official said the delegation led by Brig. Gen. George Rizkallah would aim to make the talks comprehensive and request the reactivation of the committee monitoring an earlier U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

As fighting intensified, Al Jazeera’s Hitto said more than 20 percent of the population—about 1.2 million people—had been displaced by fighting, describing families living in vehicles for long periods and in makeshift camps in public parks and public spaces.

The same reporting tied the evacuation order to the day after officials from Israel and Lebanon met in Washington to discuss a permanent end to the war, which began in early March when Iran-backed Hezbollah began attacking Israel following the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

The Straits Times reported that Israeli strikes in the southern city of Tyre killed 11 people, while Lebanon’s Ministry of Health called the bombardment a “flagrant violation of humanitarian law.”

In parallel, the Pentagon-mediated security track was described as aiming to prevent renewed escalation along the Israel–Lebanon border and to shore up a fragile ceasefire reached in mid-April, with Fox News Digital quoting a State Department official saying: “the only path to lasting peace is through direct negotiations between the two sovereign governments.”