FOUR PEOPLE HAVE been killed by Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry. 

Two people were killed in the municipality of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and two women killed in nearby Arab Salim.

The health ministry said 20 other people, including several women and three children, were wounded in those locations as well as in the city of Nabatieh and the town of Kfar Rumman, adding that the toll was provisional.

Israel’s army said it was striking south Lebanon after Hezbollah fighters launched two drones towards IDF soldiers operating in Israel’s self-declared “security zone” in the south.

It slammed a “blatant violation” by Hezbollah, without reporting troop casualties in the incident.

People watch a smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike that hit a house in Arab Salim village, southern Lebanon. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Shortly before the statement, Israel’s military had issued its first evacuation notice in Lebanon in several weeks, warning residents near a building it identified as a Hezbollah “facility” in Arab Salim to evacuate ahead of an attack on the site.

It did not issue warnings for other areas where strikes were reported.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said that after the Israeli warning for the building, “enemy warplanes launched a strike on another house, destroying it” and killing the two women.

It said the Israeli military subsequently “carried out a strike on the home” threatened in the evacuation warning.

‘Security zone’

The NNA said a strike in Nabatieh al-Fawqa destroyed part of the Ghandour hospital, adding that it had been out of service for years.

It also said a heavy airstrike on Nabatieh city targeted a historical building and damaged offices belonging to state finance and agriculture authorities, while shops and cafés in the vicinity were also damaged.

It also reported a strike on a motorcycle in the area.

People watch rescue workers use an excavator as they conduct a search operation at the destroyed house in Arab Salim. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

After the US and Israel bombed Iran on 28 February and killed the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Iran. 

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.

Israeli forces are still operating inside a self-declared “security zone” around 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanon along the border.

Violence has lessened since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader conflict in June, while Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement later that month.

But Lebanon still reports Israeli strikes, artillery shelling and broad demolitions of civilian buildings in southern villages and towns.

On Friday, Israeli strikes in the country’s south and east killed four people including an 18-year-old woman, authorities said, as Israel said it struck Hezbollah targets in response to a drone launch towards its soldiers.

Earlier this week, Israel said it had taken “operational control” of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge near Nabatieh.

Hezbollah has not commented on the announcement or confirmed that Israel has captured the site.

Elsewhere this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated the transfer to Lebanon of five people detained by Israel.

Israel and Lebanon began direct negotiations after the latest hostilities erupted, with fresh talks expected this month, though no date has been announced.