Lebanon reports Israeli strikes in south after evacuation warning

BEIRUT – Lebanon reported Israeli strikes on the country’s south on June 13 as the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for more than 20 locations, including the city of Nabatieh, ahead of raids there.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli air strikes hit several areas covered by the warning, including the villages of Rihan and Sujud, located not far from Nabatieh, and other areas not mentioned in the evacuation notice.

It said an Israeli strike killed a local official in Rihan, located in the southern region of Jezzine.

An AFP correspondent in Nabatieh said the city was almost deserted, and also reported artillery shelling there and in nearby areas overnight and on June 13.

The NNA late on June 12 reported explosions and artillery shelling near the Ali Taher hills overlooking the city.

The Israeli army warned residents in 24 locations, both in and around Nabatieh and nearer to the coast, to “evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Zahrani River”, around 45km from the southern border with Israel.

The Israeli army in May declared all areas south of the river “combat zones”, and has since been striking the area.

Israel’s military also said its air force on June 13 “intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory”.

Hezbollah, which has kept up attacks on Israeli troops who have invaded south Lebanon, said its fighters launched drone attacks on Israeli military vehicles in the south.

Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since early March when the Iran-backed group drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.

Iran insists that Lebanon must be part of any agreement to end the wider Middle East war, and a senior US official said on June 12 that a peace deal with Iran “includes Lebanon”.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah have respected an April ceasefire, and a conditional truce deal announced in June after the fourth round of direct Lebanese-Israeli negotiations in Washington has also failed to halt the fighting.

Lebanon says Israel’s massive campaign of air strikes and ground invasion, killing more than 3,700 people.

Hezbollah has rejected the direct talks and the conditional agreement, which requires it to cease attacks but makes no mention of Israel doing so or withdrawing troops from Lebanon.

Lebanon’s leaders have instead accused Tehran of treating Lebanon as a “bargaining chip”.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad on June 13 urged Lebanon to take advantage of any deal to end the Iran war that includes the country.

“We want the Lebanese state to negotiate for itself, and nobody is suggesting forfeiting this role,” Fayyad said. “However, the state must abandon the policy of being crushed in the face of the Israelis and submission to the Americans.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement on social media platform X on June 13 that Lebanon faces “a fateful test”.

“Either its people unite around a sovereign state that monopolises weapons, upholds the law and protects citizens irrespective of their affiliation or position, or it remains hostage to the logic of militias,” the statement said.

Further Israel-Lebanon talks are scheduled for later in June. AFP