One person was killed and 12 others injured in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The Israeli military stated it was responding to a "blatant violation of the ceasefire" by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. The incident occurred as Israeli and Lebanese officials were participating in U.S.-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at preserving the existing ceasefire.
The strike that caused fatalities hit the roof of a prayer hall at a cemetery in the town of Tibnin. Simultaneously, Israeli forces carried out strikes in Mansouri, a town to the west, prompting the Israeli military to issue its first evacuation order for the area in over a month. Lebanese media reported that the strikes in Mansouri damaged buildings and villas.
An Israeli military source told Israeli media that displaced residents of Mansouri had returned to their town with the assistance of the Lebanese army, which had established a checkpoint in the area. This action, according to the source, violated prior agreements. The town is situated within a 10-kilometer (six-mile) deep Israeli-declared "security zone" along the border, and the source claimed military activity endangering Lebanese civilians was occurring there.
The evacuation order for Mansouri was the first issued in southern Lebanon since June 14, when residents of 29 towns and villages were instructed to leave their homes. The mayor of Mansouri stated that approximately 120 families had returned after a June 19 ceasefire, but that number had dwindled to between 40 and 50 families as Israeli strikes intensified.
This escalation follows a period of reduced hostilities, during which the UN's humanitarian office reported that over 820,000 people displaced in Lebanon by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah had begun returning to their homes. However, approximately 360,000 individuals remain displaced across Lebanon, with 26,000 housed in government shelters.
Lebanon became involved in the broader conflict on March 2, after Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with a bombing campaign across Lebanon and a significant ground invasion of its southern territory. The Lebanese health ministry reports that 4,333 people, including 392 women and 253 children, have been killed during the conflict. Since the ceasefire announcement, 353 additional deaths have been recorded. Israeli authorities report 38 soldiers and four civilians killed on their side of the border.
In late June, Israel, Lebanon, and the United States agreed on a framework intended to lead to a gradual Israeli military withdrawal from occupied territory in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament. However, Hezbollah has rejected this agreement, deeming the link between withdrawal and disarmament to be a violation of "all red lines." Two weeks prior to the current events, the Lebanese army was permitted to deploy to one of the initial "pilot zones" following an Israeli troop withdrawal from the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh.