One person is dead and twelve others wounded after Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon on Wednesday. This included a direct hit on the roof of a prayer hall at a cemetery in the town of Tibnin. The Lebanese health ministry confirmed the casualty as Israel’s military announced what it called “precise strikes” in response to what it described as a “blatant ceasefire violation” by Hezbollah.
The strikes were accompanied by the first Israeli evacuation order issued in the region in over a month. Residents of Mansouri were told to leave ahead of what the Israeli military warned would be “forceful action.” According to an Israeli military source, the order was triggered by displaced residents returning to Mansouri under Lebanese army supervision, which Israel said violated agreed arrangements governing its declared security zone. A ten-kilometre strip of occupied Lebanese territory along the border.
The mayor of Mansouri, Haidar Madihli, said Israeli warplanes had already struck four buildings and villas on the outskirts of the town. This was before the formal evacuation order came through. Around 120 families had returned to Mansouri since the June 19 ceasefire. By the time the strikes intensified, only 40 to 50 remained. Wednesday’s evacuation emptied even those.
The violence unfolded as Israeli and Lebanese officials were sitting down with American mediators in Rome for talks. The trilateral framework agreed in late June was designed to see Israeli forces gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament. Hezbollah has rejected that arrangement outright, calling the disarmament conditions a crossing of “all red lines.”
The UN’s humanitarian office said more than 820,000 displaced Lebanese had begun returning home following a reduction in hostilities. That number now looks fragile. Around 360,000 people remain displaced across the country, including 26,000 living in government shelters.
Since the war began on 2 March, at least 4,333 people have been killed in Lebanon, among them 392 women and 253 children. Since the ceasefire was announced, Lebanon’s health ministry has recorded 353 further deaths.
In Rome, diplomats are talking about peace. In Mansouri, families are loading their cars again.
