Southern Lebanon saw its sharpest escalation this weekend since the framework agreement reached in late June between Beirut and Tel Aviv, with eleven people killed in Israeli strikes and three Israeli soldiers seriously wounded in an attack attributed to Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Israeli strikes hit several areas on Saturday, including Ansar and Deir al-Zahrani, before continuing overnight and into Sunday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency, cited by An-Nahar.

In Ansar, Israeli strikes killed seven people, including women and children. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attacks. “The seven people killed in the strike on Ansar, including children and women, were neither military infrastructure nor military targets,” he said.

President Joseph Aoun said the attacks amounted to “a clear message” to the direct talks between Lebanon and Israel and to US efforts to implement the June 26 agreement.

Hezbollah attack triggers Israeli response

Israel says it was responding to a Hezbollah attack on its soldiers in an area of southern Lebanon still under Israeli control. Three Israeli servicemen were seriously wounded.

The Israeli military said it had targeted a commander in Hezbollah’s Badr unit in Deir al-Zahrani, accusing him of involvement in several attacks against Israeli forces.

Hezbollah vowed to respond “appropriately” and called on the Lebanese government to halt talks with Israel.

The Shia movement, which refuses to disarm, had drawn Lebanon into the war on March 2, firing rockets at Israel in support of Iran after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed at the start of the US-Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic.

Disarmament dominates the talks

Despite the renewed violence, a spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu told AFP that Israel wanted “more serious” talks with Lebanon. An eighth round of US-mediated negotiations is due to take place in Rome in early September.

The June 26 framework agreement provides for Hezbollah’s disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army in evacuated areas. Hezbollah, however, refuses to give up its weapons before Israeli forces withdraw.

Tensions are also focused on Ali al-Taher, a strategic hilltop near Nabatiyeh. According to An-Nahar, Lebanese authorities reportedly proposed that Hezbollah hand the site and its heavy weapons over to the army to prevent an Israeli offensive. The group is said to have rejected the proposal and reinforced its positions there.