BEIRUT (AP) – Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since the invasion six weeks ago and withdrew on Saturday after fighting Hezbollah militants, Lebanese state media reported.
The clashes and further Israeli shelling came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials were studying a draft termination proposal presented by the United States. war.
The state news agency reported that Israeli forces briefly occupied a strategic hill in the southern village of Chama, about 5 kilometers from the border. The newspaper said Israeli forces had bombed the shrine of the Prophet Shimon and several houses in Chamaa, but could not confirm this.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment, but said in a statement that it continued “limited and localized” operations in southern Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold, and several other areas, including the port city of Tire. The state news agency said an airstrike on the village of Klaibe in the northeast killed a couple and four children.
A teenage girl suffered head injuries from shrapnel from the Dahieh attack and is in intensive care, hospital officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the patient’s condition.
The Israeli military announced that it had attacked several Hezbollah strongholds.
Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its shelling of Lebanon, significantly weakening the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and pushing back against Israel, where the militant group claims to be in solidarity with the Palestinians during the period. vowed to stop the barrage of war in gaza.
The Israeli military said a synagogue was attacked in a “heavy rocket attack” by Hezbollah, injuring two civilians. haifathe largest city in northern Israel. Police said the two suffered minor injuries. Hezbollah said it fired missiles at five Israeli military facilities in Haifa and its suburbs. Israel said Hezbollah fired more than 60 projectiles at Israel on Saturday.
More than 3,400 people died The Lebanese Ministry of Health said 80% of the deaths caused by Israeli fires in Lebanon occurred in the past eight weeks. Israel has said it wants to allow thousands of Israelis to return to their homelands near the border.
The Israeli army announced on Friday that one soldier had been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, in Gaza
Ten people were killed and 20 injured in Gaza on Saturday evening when Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a United Nations-run school sheltering displaced people, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Two missiles were fired at the Abu Assi school in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City.
The Israeli military said it had attacked a Hamas headquarters within the compound.
At least seven people, including one child and three women, were killed in a strike on a house in Nuseyrat.
The war between Israel and Hamas began after an attack by Palestinian militants. invaded Israel On October 7, 2023, approximately 1,200 people (mostly civilians) were killed. 250 others abducted.
About 100 hostage They are still in Gaza, and about a third of them are believed to have died. Israelis rallied again in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand a ceasefire agreement for handover.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 43,799 Palestinians had died in the war. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the dead were women and children.
Ten elected members of the UN Security Council on Thursday circulated a draft resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to whether the Security Council passes the resolution.
quest for peace
On Friday, Lebanon’s interim prime minister apparently prompted Iran The aim is to persuade Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire agreement with Israel, which would require Hezbollah to withdraw from the border.
Lebanese officials said a copy of the draft proposal presented by the United States earlier this week was handed to National Assembly Speaker Navi Berri, who is negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the secret talks, said Berri was expected to give the Lebanese response on Monday.
Another Lebanese politician said Hezbollah officials had received the draft and would give their opinion to Berri. The politician spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about ongoing talks.
This proposal is based on the United Nations Security Council resolution 1701ended the last Israeli-Hezbollah war in 2006.
Berri told the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that the draft does not include provisions that would allow Israel to act in Lebanon in the event of a violation of the agreement, adding: “We will not tolerate any violation of sovereignty.” We will not tolerate it either.”
He added that Lebanon would not accept the proposal to set up a committee to oversee the agreement that would include members from Western countries. a united nations peacekeeping force It is already operating near the Lebanese border.
Berri said talks were continuing and “the mood is positive, but everything depends on how things end.”
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Associated Press writers Wafa Shurafa in Gaza Deliverance, Natalie Meltzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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