One person has been killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, the country's health ministry says, after the Israeli military said it was responding to a "blatant violation of the ceasefire" by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
A man died and 12 other people were injured when the roof of a prayer hall at the cemetery of the town of Tibnin was hit, according to Lebanese media.
Strikes were also reported to the west in the town of Mansouri, where the Israeli military issued its first evacuation order for more than a month.
Hezbollah has not commented on the events, which came as Israeli and Lebanese officials attended US-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at maintaining the ceasefire.
In late June, the three countries agreed a trilateral framework that should see the Israeli military gradually withdraw from territory it is occupying in southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Two weeks ago, the Lebanese army was allowed to deploy to one of the first "pilot zones", after Israeli troops pulled out of the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh.
Hezbollah has rejected the agreement, saying the provisions linking Israel's withdrawal to the group's disarmament crossed "all red lines".
The Israeli military announced that it had begun carrying out "precise strikes" in southern Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon, about 30 minutes after its Arabic spokesperson had told residents of Mansouri to evacuate ahead of "forceful action" there.
Both statements accused Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire but gave no further details.
FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c998711dyjvo
No comments:
Post a Comment