Israeli drone strike kills 2 as army blows up homes, burns fields in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army continued its attacks on several areas of southern Lebanon on Monday, including artillery shelling, home demolitions, and the burning of agricultural fields, while Lebanese authorities said two teenagers were killed in an Israeli drone strike a day earlier, state media reported. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said on Monday that two Lebanese teenagers from the town of Deir al-Zahrani were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their motorcycle in the Dawhat Kfar Remman area in southern Lebanon on Sunday. Rescue teams from the Islamic Health Authority recovered the bodies of Hussein Shakroun and Ahmad Roumani, both 17, after contact with them had been lost since Sunday, NNA said. Israeli artillery shelling targeted the town of Mansouri in the South Governorate, while Israeli forces carried out bulldozing operations in Houla in the Nabatieh Governorate, according to NNA. Also in Nabatieh, Israeli forces stationed in Khiam blew up homes in the western neighborhood near the Al-Mabarrat schools, with successive explosions heard and heavy smoke rising in the area. Israeli forces also set fire to agricultural fields and properties inside the town, causing the fires to spread across several areas, the agency said. The developments coincided with continued Israeli military movements in the area, amid heightened tension and caution among residents, it added. Israel continues its assault on Lebanon despite a US-sponsored framework agreement signed between Beirut and Tel Aviv on June 26, which provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army there and the disarmament of armed groups, in reference to Hezbollah. Since March 2, Israel’s assault on Lebanon has killed 4,348 people and injured 12,307 others, while displacing more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities. Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the previous war between 2023 and 2024, while during the current assault, it advanced more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into Lebanese territory. Israel also occupies Palestinian and Syrian territories and continues to reject withdrawal and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as stipulated in relevant UN resolutions.