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Israeli military carried out a wave of airstrikes, artillery shelling and drone strikes across multiple towns in southern Lebanon on Saturday, employing phosphorus shells in at least one area and leaving homes in one village extensively damaged, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).
The strikes mark the latest in a series of violations of a US-mediated security framework that has failed to halt hostilities since fighting resumed in March.
Heavy Israeli artillery shelling targeted the town of Mansouri, the vicinity of Bayt al-Sayyad and the outskirts of Majdal Zoun in the early hours of Saturday, NNA reported. The agency said Israeli military also carried out extensive explosions overnight in the same three areas.
The impact on Bayt al-Sayyad was particularly severe. NNA said homes in the town had been extensively destroyed, adding that no house in the town had been left undamaged.
Further explosions were reported in the towns of Hadatha, Beit Yahoun and Aita al-Jabal, while machine-gun fire was directed toward nearby valleys. Israeli drones continued to fly over villages and towns across the western and central sectors of southern Lebanon, according to the agency.
Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes at around 6:45 a.m. local time (0345 GMT) on Ali al-Taher hill, on the northern outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, NNA said.
Israeli artillery separately shelled the outskirts of Dawhat Kfar Remman, the vicinity of Dabsha hill and the wooded area of Ali al-Taher overnight into early Saturday, using phosphorus shells, the agency reported.
Two additional airstrikes hit the area between the towns of Sirbin and Rshaf. NNA also said an Israeli drone targeted a shepherd in the Sirbin Valley, in the Bint Jbeil district, though no injuries were reported.
In the Marjayoun district of Nabatieh province, the Israeli army carried out what NNA described as a massive demolition in the town of Tallouseh.
The strikes coincided with continuous Israeli drone flights over villages and towns in the western and central sectors of southern Lebanon. NNA said the flights extended as far as Beirut, where an Israeli drone was reported flying over the capital's southern suburbs.
The latest attacks come against a backdrop of sustained tension between Israel and Lebanon since hostilities escalated on March 2, when Israel launched extensive strikes on Lebanon that it said targeted Hezbollah positions.
Hezbollah responded with drone and missile strikes against Israel. The escalation effectively shattered a ceasefire that had been in place since November 2024 and triggered renewed Israeli military operations across the country.
Since then, US-led diplomatic efforts have sought to establish new security arrangements between the two sides, including discussions over Israeli troop withdrawals, security guarantees along the border, and limits on Hezbollah's armed presence in the area.
Lebanon has demanded an end to Israeli attacks and a full withdrawal of Israeli military from Lebanese territory. Israel, meanwhile, has tied any further withdrawal to steps aimed at preventing Hezbollah from maintaining a military presence near the border, leaving the diplomatic track without a resolution as violence continues on the ground.
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