Lebanese army withdraws from southern village as Israeli troops advance

The Lebanese army withdrew from a base in Kfar Tebnit after Israeli troops advanced nearby, amid fresh airstrikes and shelling around Nabatiyeh. The development comes as regional efforts continue to secure a broader ceasefire involving Iran, Israel and Lebanon

Beirut: The Lebanese army on Saturday withdrew its troops from a base in a southern Lebanese village after Israeli troops advanced into a nearby area, a military official said.

The withdrawal from the army barracks in Kfar Tebnit came as the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for about 20 locations, including the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages.

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Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported airstrikes on Saturday on different villages near Nabatiyeh, including one that killed two people in Deir al-Zahrani. It added that Nabatiyeh was subjected to artillery shelling on Saturday.

A senior Lebanese military official told The Associated Press that the Lebanese army moved its forces from the Kfar Tebnit barracks following an incursion by Israeli forces into the area. The official, who did not elaborate, spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israeli troops were likely trying to capture the strategic Ali Taher hill on the edge of Kfar Tebnit, which overlooks large parts of Nabatiyeh and some of the roads linking the city with nearby villages.

Israeli troops held the Ali Taher hill for 18 years until they withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000.

In late May, Israeli troops captured a nearby strategic mountain topped by the Crusader-built Beaufort Castle in the deepest incursion into the country since 2000.

The advance on the edge of Kfar Tebnit came a day after Pakistan’s prime minister said that the United States and Iran had agreed on the wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators were working with both sides to finalise a deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state TV on Friday that both sides were working towards signing an initial agreement declaring an end to the war “on all fronts, including Lebanon.” Senior Hezbollah official Hussein Haj Hassan told Al Jazeera TV that they had been informed by Iranian officials that Lebanon would be part of a future ceasefire deal between the US and Iran.

Iran is Hezbollah’s main backer, supplying the group with different types of weapons over the past four decades, as well as billions of dollars.

Attacks by Israel and Hezbollah have continued despite a ceasefire that went into effect on April 17 and was renewed several times, but remains a ceasefire in name only.

Israel continues to occupy large swathes of southern Lebanon while battling Hezbollah fighters, causing civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure. Hezbollah, which is not part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, has launched frequent rocket and drone attacks.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the US and Israel began their attacks on Iran.

More than 3,700 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest fighting, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Also, 30 Israeli soldiers and a defence contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.