Fresh fighting flared along Israel’s northern front as the Israeli military said it launched strikes in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah sent drones toward its soldiers, while also telling residents of the town of Arab Salim to evacuate.
“Terrorists from the Hezbollah terrorist organisation launched two drones towards IDF soldiers operating in the Security Zone in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement, adding that there were no reports of Israeli soldiers wounded.
“This constitutes a blatant violation by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation. In response, the IDF is now striking in southern Lebanon,” it added.
In a separate warning issued ahead of what it described as imminent attacks, the Israeli military instructed people in Arab Salim to leave the area.
“You are situated near a facility belonging to the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, against which the IDF will be operating,” it wrote in Arabic on Telegram.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in March after Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.
Since then, the pace of violence has eased, following a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader conflict in June and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon later that month.
Israeli forces are operating inside a self-declared “security zone” around 10km deep inside Lebanon along the border.
Authorities in Lebanon said that Israeli strikes killed four people in the country’s south and east yesterday.
