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Two Israeli reserve soldiers are killed in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the military said, marking Israel's first combat deaths in the area since June 28.
The deaths came as Israeli strikes hit towns across southern Lebanon and U.S.-backed talks aimed at ending hostilities entered a third day in Rome.
The Israeli military identified the soldiers as Maj. Harel Birenstock, 34, a company commander from Nokdim, and Sgt. Maj. Tamir Vaknin, 33, from Eilat.
Both served in the 2855th Battalion of the 55th Paratroopers Brigade.
An initial Israeli military investigation found that reserve troops entered a structure in the southern Lebanese town of Majdal Zoun around noon Wednesday while working to demolish Hezbollah infrastructure, according to the Israeli army.
An explosion occurred as the forces entered the building, killing the two soldiers and seriously wounding four others, the military said.
The wounded were evacuated by military helicopters to Rambam Medical Center, according to Israeli media reports. The military said it does not yet know whether the house was booby-trapped before or after the ceasefire took effect.
Following the explosion, the Israeli military carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets in the area.
"In response to a blatant violation of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the IDF has begun conducting precise strikes in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement on Wednesday, shortly after telling residents to evacuate the southern town of Mansouri.
It was the first such evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military since June.
"In light of Hezbollah's violations of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to act against it with force," the military said in the warning.
"For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north," the military's Arabic-language spokeswoman, Ella Waweya, posted on the social platform X.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported an Israeli strike on the town of Tebnine killed one person and wounded 12.
Israeli media reported Wednesday that the military is preparing additional strikes in Lebanon and drawing up options for "sensitive operations," despite the ongoing Rome talks.
In Rome, Israel asked that Wednesday's session with Lebanon end three hours early, an unnamed source in the negotiations told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The source said the head of the Israeli delegation, U.S. Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, blamed "misleading leaks" by the Lebanese side.
Talks are expected to resume Thursday for a third and final day, AFP reported.
The current round is the seventh since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by firing rockets at Israel in support of its backer Iran, according to Lebanese officials cited by AFP. It is the second day of the second round of indirect talks in Rome, following five earlier rounds held in Washington.
In previous U.S.-sponsored talks in June, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a framework deal involving Hezbollah's disarmament, a gradual Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon and deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as "pilot zones."
A U.S. State Department official told AFP this week's talks would "include expanding the pilot zone process, resolving all outstanding border issues, and working on a comprehensive peace and security agreement."
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke with his Iranian counterpart as the delegations met in Rome and called on Tehran to halt Hezbollah's operations.
Tajani said in a post shortly before the Israeli strikes that he hoped the talks would "yield concrete results."
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Tuesday that the direct negotiations would bring "nothing but shame, humiliation" and successive concessions for Lebanon. Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected the direct talks and refuses to surrender its weapons.
Israel's military has lost 38 soldiers and one civilian contractor since the war with Hezbollah erupted in early March.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said Israel's attacks in Lebanon have killed 4,333 people and injured 12,250 since March 2.
Violence in Lebanon has decreased since the Lebanon-Israel deal and a preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement on the Middle East conflict signed in June. But Lebanon has continued to report intermittent Israeli strikes, shelling, and demolitions in southern villages.
The United Nations' humanitarian agency said Tuesday night that more than 800,000 people displaced by earlier fighting in Lebanon had begun returning home following a recent lull in violence, though more than 360,000 remained displaced.
Mansouri, located about nine kilometers (six miles) south of Tyre and 10 kilometers north of Israel, has been hit by several Israeli strikes and artillery shelling in recent weeks despite the ceasefire that took hold in June.
The town's municipality told residents June 22 they could return but should avoid the part of town within Israel's "security zone," a strip of territory roughly 10 kilometers deep inside southern Lebanon along the Israeli border where Israeli forces continue to operate.
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