Lebanese Army Withdraws as Israel Moves on Strategic
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- Lebanese army withdrew troops from the Kfar Tebnit barracks on Saturday after Israeli forces advanced nearby, a senior military official said, with the Israeli military simultaneously issuing evacuation warnings for about 20 locations including the southern city of Nabatiyeh.
- Lebanon's National News Agency reported air strikes on villages near Nabatiyeh that killed two people in Deir al-Zahrani, and said Nabatiyeh was subjected to artillery shelling on Saturday.
- Israeli troops appeared to be moving to capture Ali Taher Hill on the edge of Kfar Tebnit — a position that overlooks large parts of Nabatiyeh and that Israel held for 18 years before withdrawing from Lebanon in May 2000.
- Hezbollah said its fighters launched drone attacks on Israeli troops on the edge of Kfar Tibnit, claiming it has been using fiber-optic drones to inflict casualties on Israeli forces since the latest war began.
- In late May, Israeli forces captured a nearby mountain topped with the Crusader-built Beaufort Castle in what was described as the deepest incursion into Lebanon since 2000.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state TV on Friday that both sides were working toward an initial agreement declaring an end to the war 'on all fronts, including Lebanon,' and a senior Hezbollah official said Iran had informed the group that Lebanon would be part of a future ceasefire.
- The toll: more than 3,700 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest fighting, 30 Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians killed in northern Israel, while attacks continue despite a ceasefire that took effect April 17.
Why it matters: Israel is retaking ground in southern Lebanon — the Ali Taher Hill it held for 18 years before 2000 — while Iran's foreign minister confirmed a potential US-Iran deal would end the war 'on all fronts, including Lebanon,' but a senior Hezbollah official has said the group will not abide by any Israel-Lebanon agreement, leaving the April 17 ceasefire a fiction as the death toll climbs past 3,700 in Lebanon.
