Israel continues strikes on southern Lebanon towns

Attacks across southern districts

Israeli forces launched artillery strikes, airstrikes and tree-clearing operations across southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to the Lebanese National News Agency. The barrage injured residents in the town of Haris while Israeli troops razed all roadside vegetation in Bint Jbeil city, and similar operations were reported in the Tyre district.

The army shelled Haris in the Nabatieh Governorate's Bint Jbeil district, leaving an unspecified number of people wounded, the agency said. In the Tyre district, forces fired missiles at Mansouri and dropped sound bombs on the al-Mashaa neighborhood between Majdal Zoun and Mansouri, while warplanes carried out an airstrike on the same area. An Israeli drone also struck Nabatieh al-Fawqa, while warplanes bombed Kfar Tibnit late Friday and carried out a large explosion on the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiya.

Military claims and casualties

The military claimed it targeted a cell of Hezbollah drone operators in southern Lebanon without specifying the location, alleging the strike followed detection of a drone launched near Israeli forces. The air force conducted a rapid strike on the cell members in what it described as an effort to "eliminate the threat" they allegedly posed to troops.

Earlier Saturday, Lebanon's Health Ministry announced that the death toll from the Israeli assault has risen to 4,328, with 12,227 wounded since March 2. Israel continues its attacks despite signing a US-sponsored framework agreement on June 26 that provides for a phased withdrawal from Lebanese territory, and follows recent talks in Rome regarding troop pullbacks from two southern areas. Israeli forces occupy areas of southern Lebanon, some held for decades and others seized during the 2023-2024 war and the assault that began last March.