Israel issues new evacuation warnings in south Lebanon beyond occupied area
Israel's military on Sunday issued new evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon for villages beyond the area it occupies, despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
"For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the villages and towns by at least 1,000 meters into open areas," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X.
The warning covers more than 10 villages and towns including several in the district of Nabatieh, which lies north of the Litani River, south of which Israel has stationed troops.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency later reported a series of Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon, including on towns not mentioned in the evacuation warning.
Since April 17 a fragile ceasefire has been in place between Israel and Lebanon, which was aimed at pausing the violence between the Hezbollah militant group and Israel's military.
On Wednesday Israel's military chief of staff Eyal Zamir had threatened to strike Hezbollah "beyond the yellow line", which marks the area of Israeli control.
"Any threat, anywhere, against our communities or our forces -- including beyond the Yellow Line and north of the Litani -- will be eliminated," he said during a visit to Israeli troops.
In the past week two soldiers and an army contractor have been killed by drone attacks in the area, with dozens of soldiers wounded.
Hezbollah has recently begun using cheap drones controlled by fiber-optic cable, making them largely immune to electronic jamming, to conduct daily attacks.
These drones have a range of several dozen kilometers, which puts Israeli troops in Lebanon and settlements in northern Israel under threat.
The United States has called for direct peace negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, but President Joseph Aoun called on Wednesday for Israel to fully implement the ceasefire before the talks can take place.
Source: Agence France Presse
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