Israel Strikes Southern Lebanon After Drone Attack; Two Ceasefire Flashpoints Remain
Israel hit targets in southern Lebanon after a Hezbollah drone attack, killing four, as tensions spike along the border.
Tensions flared along the Israel-Lebanon border on Sunday after Israeli forces launched strikes on southern Lebanon, following a rare evacuation warning for the area. The Israeli military said the attacks were a response to a drone launched by Hezbollah at its troops earlier in the day, though it reported no soldier injuries.
The Lebanese health ministry said the strikes killed two people in the village of Arabsalim and two more in the nearby city of Nabatiyeh. The escalation marks a significant uptick in violence in a region that has seen relative calm since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect more than two months ago.
While evacuation orders have become uncommon since the truce, fighting has persisted around a strategic hill near Nabatiyeh. On Thursday, Israel announced it had taken "operational control" of the Ali Taher hill and a network of tunnels beneath it, which it said Hezbollah uses to shelter fighters and weapons.
The current cycle of hostilities began when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel days after a joint Israeli-U.S. attack on Iran on February 28. Israel subsequently invaded Lebanon and has occupied a large portion of the country's south since then.