Hours after US-Iran deal, Lebanon reports Israeli strikes kill three

An Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle in south Lebanon’s Kfar Tebnit area, killing two people on Thursday, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). The NNA reported that "an enemy drone targeted a car" in the area. In the neighbouring village of Zebdine, another drone strike killed one more person. These developments followed an announcement by the Israeli military that one of its soldiers was killed and seven others were wounded the previous night during an incident in southern Lebanon.

The ongoing hostilities occurred hours after the United States and Iran signed an agreement intended to end the West Asia war. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, initially drew Lebanon into the conflict in March by launching attacks against Israel. This action was taken to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the beginning of the US-Israeli campaign. Israel subsequently retaliated with widespread strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south, a region bordering Israel that has long been under Hezbollah’s control.

Despite the newly signed US-Iran agreement, fighting has persisted. Hezbollah announced on Thursday that its fighters successfully repelled a four-day Israeli offensive moving toward Kfar Tebnit and the Ali al-Taher hills. These hills represent a strategic height that overlooks Nabatieh and are believed to contain key Hezbollah positions. Hezbollah stated it utilised drones, rockets, and artillery to attack Israeli tanks and troops, forcing a nighttime retreat "under the cover of smoke screens and artillery fire during the night".

Concurrently, the Israeli military declared Thursday that it would continue operating in southern Lebanon and would "remove threats" beyond its so-called security zone even after the United States and Iran signed their agreement. The military released a map of this security zone, which extends roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) into Lebanese territory. Israel maintained that troops will remain deployed in the zone "to remove threats and strengthen the defence of Israel's northern residents". Later, an Israeli military official reiterated that the army "will continue to remove threats to IDF soldiers and the civilians of the State of Israel that are identified beyond the security zone".