Israeli air strikes hit southern Lebanon on Saturday after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for the city of Nabatieh and more than 20 surrounding locations ahead of planned raids.
The latest attacks came as the United States and Iran signalled they were close to reaching an agreement to end the wider Middle East war, a deal that could also address the conflict in Lebanon. The country has been drawn into the regional fighting since Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of its Iranian ally.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli strikes targeted several areas around the southern city of Nabatieh. An AFP photojournalist in the area heard explosions near Kfar Remman, a location repeatedly targeted in recent months, and saw smoke rising from Kfar Tebnit, which was not included in the evacuation notices.
The Lebanese army later said one of its soldiers was seriously wounded in an Israeli drone strike on the road between Kfar Remman and Nabatieh. According to the army, the attack followed an earlier attempt to target the soldier while he was moving near a hospital close to the city.
NNA also reported that an Israeli strike killed a local official in Rihan, in the southern Jezzine region.
An AFP correspondent in Nabatieh said the city was almost deserted. Artillery shelling was reported in the city and nearby areas overnight and continued on Saturday.
Earlier, the Israeli military issued two separate warnings covering 24 locations in and around Nabatieh, as well as areas closer to the Mediterranean coast. Residents were instructed to “evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Zahrani River”, about 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the Israeli border.
Last month, Israel declared all territory south of the river a combat zone and has since intensified its military operations in the area.
Hezbollah said its fighters launched drone attacks against Israeli military vehicles in southern Lebanon. The group also claimed it had foiled an overnight Israeli infiltration attempt near Kfar Tebnit, close to Nabatieh, after ambushing troops and engaging in what it described as a “firefight with medium weapons”.
The organisation further reported clashes with Israeli soldiers near Majdal Zoun, closer to the border.
The Israeli military said it had “intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory”. It later announced that “over the past 24 hours, more than 70 Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites were struck”.
Fresh Israeli strikes later hit two locations in Lebanon’s eastern Baalbek region, according to NNA.
Iran has insisted that Lebanon must be included in any agreement aimed at ending the broader Middle East conflict. A senior US official said on Friday that a draft peace agreement “includes Lebanon”.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah has observed a ceasefire intended to take effect in April. A conditional truce announced earlier this month following Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington also failed to stop the fighting.
Hezbollah rejected both the direct negotiations and the proposed agreement, arguing that it required the group to halt attacks while making no commitment for Israel to end its military operations or withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities say Israel’s air and ground campaign has killed 3,756 people so far.
At the same time, Lebanese leaders have accused Tehran of treating Lebanon as a “bargaining chip” in wider regional negotiations.
Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said on Saturday that Lebanon should accept any US-Iran agreement that includes the country.
“We want the Lebanese state to negotiate for itself, and nobody is suggesting forfeiting this role,” he said.
“However, the state must abandon the policy of being crushed in the face of the Israelis and submission to the Americans.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, whose government has been mediating between Tehran and Washington, said on Saturday that an agreement was closer “than ever before”.
Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun warned that the country faced “a fateful test”.
“Either its people unite around a sovereign state that monopolises weapons, upholds the law and protects citizens irrespective of their affiliation or position, or it remains hostage to the logic of militias,” he said.
Further talks between Israel and Lebanon are scheduled to take place later this month.
