Israel conducted airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, targeting several locations including areas near the city of Nabatieh, as it issued evacuation warnings for over 20 communities in the region. Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes hit villages such as Rihan and Sujud, both close to Nabatieh, as well as other areas not explicitly warned about. A local official was reportedly killed in Rihan, located in the Jezzine district. A correspondent in Nabatieh described the city as nearly deserted amid ongoing artillery shelling overnight and into Saturday.

The Israeli military instructed residents in 24 locations, both around Nabatieh and nearer to the coast, to evacuate their homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River, approximately 45 kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border. Last month, Israel declared all areas south of the Zahrani River as combat zones and has since intensified its strike campaign in these southern regions.

An Israeli military spokesperson said that the air force intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon. Meanwhile, Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group engaged in the conflict, claimed responsibility for drone attacks on Israeli military vehicles in southern Lebanon, continuing its attacks on Israeli forces who have advanced into the area.

The Lebanese armed forces reportedly withdrew from a base in Kfar Tebnit following a nearby Israeli ground incursion, with Israeli troops appearing to aim to secure the strategically important Ali Taher hill, which overlooks Nabatieh and key access roads to the city. Hezbollah fighters have reportedly engaged Israeli forces in the area, including near the border town of Majdal Zoun, with rocket barrages and small arms fire forcing Israeli troops to temporarily retreat.

The current hostilities follow the outbreak of violence in early March when Hezbollah launched rocket attacks into Israel, citing retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in strikes attributed to the United States and Israel. Iran maintains that Lebanon should be included in any peace agreement aiming to resolve the wider Middle East conflict. A senior U.S. official indicated that ongoing negotiations with Iran would involve Lebanon as well.

Despite ceasefire announcements in April and a conditional truce deal reached earlier this month through Lebanese-Israeli negotiations in Washington, fighting has persisted. Hezbollah has refused to adhere to the terms of the conditional truce, which requires its cessation of military operations but does not mandate Israeli troop withdrawal or cessation of attacks. Lebanese officials have criticized Tehran for leveraging Lebanon as part of broader regional bargaining.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad called on Lebanon to leverage any peace deal involving Iran to assert the country’s interests, urging the Lebanese state to negotiate independently while rejecting what he described as submission to Israel and the United States. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun underscored the gravity of the situation, calling on the Lebanese people to unite around a sovereign state capable of enforcing law and order and preventing domination by militias.

Further rounds of Lebanese-Israeli talks are scheduled for later this month amid ongoing tension and violence along the southern border. The humanitarian toll in Lebanon from the combined Israeli military campaign and ground incursions is reported to exceed 3,700 casualties.