A renewed Israeli military push near the border prompted Lebanese forces to withdraw from a southern village, raising new tensions in the region.
BEIRUT (AP) – The Lebanese army on Saturday withdrew its troops from a base in a southern Lebanese the village behind Israeli troops advanced in a nearby area, a military official said.
The evacuation from the army barracks in Kfar Tebni came after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for about 20 locations, including the southern town of Nabatiyeh and surrounding villages.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported airstrikes on Saturday in various villages near Nabatiyeh, including one that killed two people in Deir al-Zahrani. He added that Nabatiyeh came under artillery bombardment on Saturday.
A senior Lebanese military official told The Associated Press that the Lebanese army moved its forces from the Kfar Tebni barracks after an incursion by Israeli forces into the area. The official, who did not provide details, spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with regulations.
Israeli troops were likely trying to capture the strategic Ali Taher hill on the edge of Kfar Tebni that overlooks large parts of Nabatiyeh and some of the roads connecting the city to nearby villages.
Israeli troops held Ali Taher Hill for 18 years until they withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000.
In late May, Israeli troops captured a nearby strategic mountain peak Beaufort Castle built by the Crusaders in the deepest incursion into the country since 2000.
The push to the edge of Kfar Tebni came a day after the Pakistani prime minister said this United States and Iran have agreed to formulate a deal aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators are working with both sides to finalize a deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state television on Friday that both sides were working towards signing an initial agreement that declared an end to war “on all fronts, including Lebanon”.
Senior Hezbollah official Hussein Haj Hassan told Al Jazeera TV that they have been informed by Iranian officials that Lebanon will be part of a future ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran.
Iran is Hezbollah’s main backer, supplying the group with various types of weapons over the past four decades, as well as billions of dollars.
Attacks by Israel and Hezbollah have continued regardless a truce which went into effect on April 17 and has been renewed several times, but remains a cease-fire in name only.
Israel continues to occupy large parts of southern Lebanon as it battles Hezbollah fighters, causing civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure. Hezbollah, which is not part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, has launched frequent rocket and drone attacks.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the US and Israel launched their attacks on Iran.
More than 3,700 people have been killed in Lebanon in recent fighting, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Also, 30 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor were killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians were killed in northern Israel, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press
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