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Majdal Zoun Explosion
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion in southern Lebanon in the village of Majdal Zoun, with four other soldiers seriously wounded, marking the first Israeli deaths since a shaky truce with Hezbollah began nearly two months earlier.
“Two Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion in southern Lebanon”
The Israeli military said an “explosion was detonated” when the soldiers entered a site in Majdal Zoun, and an Israeli military official said the nature of the explosive was under review.
In response to what it described as Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire, Israel launched strikes Wednesday in southern Lebanon and called on residents of the village of Mansouri to flee, while Lebanon’s Health Ministry said one person was killed and 12 wounded in the town of Tebnine.
The escalation unfolded as Lebanese and Israeli negotiators met in Rome to discuss implementation of a June 26 deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon and allow the Lebanese army to take control, in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament.
The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, said it had recorded 113 projectiles launched by the Israeli military on Wednesday, the highest number recorded since June 21.
Evacuation Orders and Injuries
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said eight people were injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting Burj al-Shamali in the Tyre district, as Israeli drones carried out three air strikes on the Al-Malaab neighborhood and fighter jets struck the same location in a fourth attack.
The Israeli army issued a warning to residents of Mansouri, urging them to leave the area, marking the first warning of its kind issued by Israel in Lebanon in weeks, and the Shafaq News account said the bombardment later spread to Al-Mansouri, Majdal Zoun, nearby valleys, and the coastal Al-Hamra area near Bayt Al-Sayyad.
In the same period, the Israeli army said it launched strikes on several Hezbollah sites in south Lebanon over the past 24 hours in response to the Majdal Zoun explosion, while the TRT World report said the attacks came despite ongoing ceasefire and negotiations between Beirut and Tel Aviv.
A Lebanese official told Anadolu that the discussions in Rome were focused on mechanisms for implementing the ceasefire agreement, completing Israel's withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, and strengthening the deployment of the Lebanese army in border areas.
The TRT World report also placed the scale of the broader campaign in Lebanon at 4,333 killed and 12,250 injured, citing the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Diplomatic Stakes and Escalation
The Rome talks, now in their seventh round, were described as continuing alongside intensified Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon, with the discussions aimed at implementing the ceasefire agreement and completing a phased Israeli withdrawal.
“A precarious truce between Israel and Hezbollah has largely held since June 20”
The Houston Chronicle account said the talks in Rome ended early due to the escalation on the ground and then resumed on Thursday, while it also described pilot zones where Israeli forces would withdraw and the Lebanese army would take control.
In the TRT World report, the agreement signed by Beirut and Tel Aviv on June 26 was described as providing for a phased Israeli withdrawal beginning with the implementation of a pilot model in designated areas, and it said Israel has continued its military offensive on Lebanon since March 2.
The Shafaq News account said Israeli forces issued their first evacuation order since the ceasefire, instructing residents of Al-Mansouri to move at least one kilometer north and avoid areas linked to Hezbollah.
With the ceasefire “largely held since June 20” but Israeli forces continuing to occupy swaths of southern Lebanon and carry out periodic airstrikes and shelling, the immediate trigger for renewed violence remained the Majdal Zoun explosion and Israel’s claim of Hezbollah’s “violation of the ceasefire.”
