Lebanon: Israeli strikes in the south of the country after a warning from Israel

Israeli strikes targeted southern Lebanon on Saturday, shortly after an Israeli call to evacuate 20 localities in the region, including the city of Nabatiyeh, the official Lebanese news agency ANI reported.

These bombings targeted several areas designated by Israel, including the villages of Rihan and Sujud, located not far from Nabatiyeh, the ANI reported.

The Israeli army had warned that it was preparing to "act forcefully" against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, and asked residents to reach the north of the Zahrani River, located north of the city of Nabatiyeh, about forty kilometers from the border with Israel.

Earlier on Saturday, it announced that it had intercepted a "hostile aircraft" that had entered northern Israel from Lebanon, following four similar incidents in which some of the projectiles were not intercepted, but without causing significant damage, according to it.

Late Friday, the ANI reported explosions and artillery fire near hills overlooking Nabatiyeh, and Hezbollah reported fighting with Israeli forces advancing towards the town of Majdal Zoun.

Lebanon was drawn into the war on March 2, when Hezbollah targeted Israeli territory in support of Iran following the Israeli-American offensive of February 28.

Since then, Israel has been bombarding its neighbor, saying it wants to "eliminate" the Shiite movement, which in turn is carrying out attacks against its positions in southern Lebanon and northern Lebanon. Israeli operations have killed more than 3,700 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

And this despite a ceasefire that came into effect on April 17 and then a new conditional truce agreement announced in early June following talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, which was rejected by Hezbollah.

The Lebanese front is one of the major components of the negotiations conducted between Washington and Tehran with a view to ending the war in the Middle East.

According to a senior US official, the agreement currently under discussion does include Lebanon, as demanded by Tehran, whereas the United States had previously said it wanted to deal with this issue separately.

The country faces "a crucial test," Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Saturday on X, calling on the Lebanese to unite "around a sovereign state that holds the monopoly on weapons" so as not to remain "hostage to the logic of militias."

Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad called on Saturday for taking advantage of any agreement aimed at ending hostilities. But "the state must abandon the policy of being crushed by the Israelis and subservient to the Americans," he added.