Hezbollah has said its fighters destroyed three Israeli tanks on Friday as clashes continued in southern Lebanon, while Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes killed three people in separate incidents.
The fighting came a day after the United States and Iran signed an agreement aimed at ending the wider Middle East war across multiple fronts, including Lebanon. Despite the deal, hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued.
In a statement issued in the early hours of Friday, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted “three Merkava tanks with guided missiles, which led to their destruction and setting them on fire”. The group said Israeli forces, including an armoured and infantry platoon, had attempted to advance towards the northern side of the Ali al-Taher hills, a strategic position overlooking the town of Nabatieh.
“The clashes are still ongoing,” the statement added.
On Thursday, Hezbollah said it had also fought off an Israeli advance from Arnoun towards the outskirts of Kfar Tibnit, near Nabatieh. It said Israeli troops were engaged with drones, rockets and artillery, forcing them to retreat “under the cover of smoke screens and artillery fire during the night”.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli drone strikes killed three people on Thursday. It said an attack on a car in the Kfar Tibnit area killed two people, while a separate strike in the village of Zebdine killed one person.
The Israeli military said one of its soldiers had been killed the previous night in southern Lebanon, with seven others wounded in the same incident.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said peacekeepers had reported continued exchanges of fire. He said: “So far today, 143 trajectories of projectiles were observed. Of these, 119 were attributed to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), with the remainder to Hezbollah.” He added that “yesterday, 364 projectile launches were observed, of which 330 were attributed to the IDF and 34 to Hezbollah.”
Hezbollah entered the wider conflict in March, saying it was acting in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of the US-Israeli campaign. Israel responded with strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south, along its border area where Hezbollah holds long-standing influence.
On Thursday, Hezbollah said it had repelled a four-day Israeli offensive aimed at the Ali al-Taher hills and Kfar Tibnit. It said its fighters used drones, rockets and artillery to push back Israeli troops, which it claimed retreated under fire and smoke cover.
Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, said Israel’s campaign in Lebanon had “failed” to eliminate the group. He urged Lebanese authorities to pursue indirect negotiations, calling for Israel to “fully comply with the cessation of hostilities on land, at sea and in the air” and to prepare for withdrawal within 60 days without direct talks.
However, the Israeli military said it would continue operations in southern Lebanon even after the US-Iran agreement. It released a map showing a security zone extending around 10 kilometres inside Lebanese territory, including areas where clashes have taken place.
The military said its forces would remain in the zone “to remove threats and strengthen the defence of Israel’s northern residents”. It later added that it would continue to act against threats to soldiers and civilians identified beyond the security area.
