Lebanon: Deadliest Israeli Strike Since the June Truce

An Israeli strike hit a house on the edge of Ansar, a village in Nabatiyeh district north of Tyre, in the early hours of Saturday, leveling the building to the ground. Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said seven people were killed and three wounded.

It was the deadliest Israeli attack in Lebanon since the agreements reached in June sharply reduced the intensity of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The Israeli military confirmed overnight strikes across the south and said it had targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in response to an attack by the group on its soldiers.

We have already reported on the demolition of homes in southern Lebanon and on the accusations Beirut has directed at Israel over it. What sets the night of Saturday apart is the number of dead in a single location and how far inland the strikes reached.

What Was Hit Overnight on Saturday

According to the National News Agency, the strikes began with a series of hits on the Ali Taher ridge above Nabatiyeh el-Fawqa, beneath which sits a large underground Hezbollah facility. The attacks then spread south, toward the border itself.

• In Nabatiyeh el-Fawqa, strikes hit a teacher training center building and the Husseiniya club
• The strike also reached the valley between Ansar and Zrariyeh, the first time since the truce two months ago
• In Bint Jbeil, several houses were destroyed, and machine-gun fire was opened on homes along the Kounine, Saff al-Hawa road
• The al-Masha quarter in the town of al-Mansouri was hit from the air shortly before midnight

Teams from the Islamic Message Scout Association, the Islamic Health Authority and Lebanese Civil Defense worked to clear the rubble and carry the dead and wounded to hospitals in Nabatiyeh.

Why Is This Strike Worse Than the Ones Before It?

Because it moves the line the fighting had reached since June. The valley between Ansar and Zrariyeh lies farther inland than the sites hit in previous weeks, making the strike there a sign that the de-escalation agreed in June is no longer being honored on the ground.

Violence had eased after the memorandum of understanding signed in June by the United States and Iran, and the framework agreement brokered by Washington between Lebanon and Israel. That trilateral framework calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south. Demolitions and strikes in the south have not stopped since it took effect.

Lebanese authorities say 4,335 people have been killed since March 2, that 12,277 have been wounded and that more than a million residents have been displaced.

Beirut Wants Deadlines, Israel Wants Conditions

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received US Ambassador to Beirut Michel Issa and General Joseph Clearfield, head of the US military coordination group for Lebanon, on August 14 and discussed the military portion of the negotiating framework. His office said he had called for an end to the demolitions, an expansion of the pilot zone, and a clear timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory.

Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri received the same officials separately and said Israel had not stopped its attacks, citing the demolition of villages, bulldozed farmland, forest fires and damage to cultural monuments.

Issa called the talks positive, though he gave no date for the next round, and told reporters the attacks hinged on a single condition:

If they hand over their weapons, everything will stop.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Israeli forces would not withdraw until Hezbollah is disarmed.

Qassem: Humiliating the Lebanese Army

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem turned on his own government on Friday, accusing it of putting the army under pressure by enforcing an agreement he says is not working. He noted that Israel is still striking houses and destroying tunnels in Zawtar al-Gharbiya, the first pilot zone, even though the Lebanese army is deployed there.

How can you accept this constant humiliation of the Lebanese army, exposing it to bombing and Israeli pressure?

Qassem challenged officials to name even one outcome from the seven rounds of negotiations held so far. He also accused Israel of trying to tie Lebanon to an oversight body that would control the army’s deployment and its internal operations.

The gap between the two sides has therefore stayed the same as it was before June: Beirut wants a timeline for withdrawal, Israel wants disarmament before anything else. The next round of talks is set for early September, and the list of places hit in a single night in the south is longer than at any point since the framework was signed.