Israeli airstrikes, artillery shelling hit southern Lebanon amid intensified drone activity

Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes and artillery shelling in southern Lebanon on Friday, while drones flew intensively at low altitude over the capital Beirut and the southern city of Tyre, Lebanese state media reported. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli fighter jets struck the vicinity of Ali al-Taher hill on the outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the Nabatieh district. The agency reported intermittent Israeli artillery shelling near the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya in the same district before noon. In Kfar Shouba, in the Hasbaya district, an Israeli drone dropped a stun grenade in the Khallet Zuhair area on the outskirts of the town. The agency also said Israeli forces carried out a large explosion overnight in an area between Zawtar al-Sharqiya and Kfar Tebnit in the Nabatieh district. Israeli forces continued setting fire to wooded areas in the town of Qantara toward the Salouqi area in the Marjayoun district, it added. Meanwhile, Israeli drones were observed flying at low altitude over Beirut, Tyre and surrounding areas in southern Lebanon. The attacks came after two days of US-sponsored technical military talks between Lebanon and Israel that began Tuesday in the US state of Florida, with no results announced. On June 26, Beirut and Tel Aviv reached a US-mediated framework agreement providing for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army and the disarmament of armed groups. The agreement also introduced a pilot-zone approach to implementation, but its provisions have so far been applied in only three southern Lebanese towns: Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiya, while more than 50 towns remain under Israeli occupation. Despite the agreement, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have continued, killing at least 4,386 people and injuring 12,407 others since March 2, while displacing more than 1 million people. Israel continues to occupy areas of southern Lebanon, including territory held for decades and other areas seized during previous conflicts.