Israeli Strikes Hit Nabatieh, Lebanon, as IDF Expands Ground Operations

According to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), as reported by Prensa Latina, Israeli artillery fired four shells at the Marjeyoun plain, while aircraft targeted Wadi al-Hujeir and the town of Kfar Tebnit, where a missile also struck. The NNA also reported that a drone launched two shells on the roof of a house in Mayfadoun.

Israeli aircraft overflew the Zahrani region, and the NNA said the attacks affected the towns of Mansouri and Majdal Zoun. Prensa Latina reported that air raids were simulated in the border areas of Akkar and Hermel, involving low-altitude fighter aircraft that generated loud noises without necessarily shelling.

Prensa Latina also reported that military-technical meetings between Beirut and Tel Aviv were held for two days in Florida under US auspices and concluded without their results being made public. On 26 June, according to the same report, both sides reached a framework agreement through Washington mediation. The agreement provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal in exchange for Lebanese army deployment and the disarmament of armed groups.

The report said the agreement’s pilot zone has been implemented in three southern localities: Frun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiya, while more than 50 populations remain under Israeli occupation. A framework for gradual withdrawal, if carried out, would bear directly on the peacemaking the agreement seeks (Matthew 5:9).

Prensa Latina cited figures stating that since March 2, the attacks have caused at least 4,386 deaths and 12,407 injuries and have displaced more than a million people. The report attributes these figures to the sources it cites and does not independently verify them.

A separate report from RTÉ, citing Israeli media, describes a different course of events. It said IDF troops had begun ground operations beyond the so-called Yellow Line in south Lebanon, a zone that runs about 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanese territory. Israel’s Kan public broadcaster posted on X that the IDF had begun ground operations north of the Yellow Line, and Haaretz and Ynet reported that these operations were meant to reduce the threat posed by Hezbollah’s explosive drones.

RTÉ reported that several strikes hit the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh after what an AFP correspondent described as an unprecedented Israeli evacuation warning. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said residents of the entire city of Nabatieh must evacuate immediately and move north of the Zahrani River. Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli airstrike on the town of Mashghara in West Bekaa resulted in a preliminary toll of 11 martyrs and 15 wounded.

RTÉ also reported that a strike on Srifa killed a rescuer and wounded two others from the Risala Scouts association. According to health officials cited in the report, the strike raised the rescuer death toll in the war to 120.