Israeli drone attack and shelling reported in southern Lebanon

An Israeli drone struck an area between the towns of Kfar Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon, according to the National News Agency.

The state news agency also reported intermittent artillery shelling on the outskirts of Kfar Tebnit.

Interceptor fired at suspicious target in southern Lebanon: Israeli army

The Israeli military says an interceptor was fired at a suspicious aerial target detected in an area where its forces are operating in southern Lebanon.

The details are under investigation, and sirens were not activated, a brief statement added.

Israeli jets carry out new air attacks in southern Lebanon

Israeli warplanes have conducted two new raids on the outskirts of the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, according to our colleagues on the ground.

A separate air strike was carried out in the vicinity of the town of Bani Haiyyan in Marjayoun, they added.

Israel doesn’t want the United Nations in occupied southern Lebanon

From Zeina Kohr:

This conflict is far from over. Parts of southern Lebanon remain very much a conflict zone. Artillery shelling has caused fires in the valleys behind me. You can see the smoke in the distance, the flames. This happens on a near daily basis, and civil defence volunteers cannot reach the area to put out the flames if they don’t have prior approval from the Israeli army.

The area behind these hills, the towns in the distance, these are Lebanese towns occupied by the Israeli army. More than 60 of them are occupied. A short while ago, we heard Israeli war planes in the skies, flying at low altitudes. There were three air strikes in the span of 15 minutes. The areas targeted and hit are just North of the zone that Israel occupies in southern Lebanon, so you have ongoing instability, uncertainty, and hundreds of thousands of people have returned to their homes since there’s been a reduction in violence, but 300,000 have not been able to return to their homes because they’re occupied.

The Israeli army is carrying out a systematic campaign of demolitions, destroying people’s homes and lives. It’s not just in the occupied territories where you have the destruction, it’s also in areas North. Most homes have either been reduced to rubble, are uninhabitable, and reconstruction has still not begun.

The Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has been holding meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. He’s been appealing for assistance and help to ensure there’s a continued international security presence in the South after the UN Forces (UNFIL) withdraw. Of course, UNFIL haven’t stopped the conflict in the past three years, let alone the past few decades, but for people here, they are the eyes of the international community. So Salam is calling on the international community to extend UNIFIL’s mandate or find a force to replace it, but who calls the shot here? It’s Israel and the United States, who believe the United Nations failed, and allowed Hezbollah to build a military infrastructure in the area, and what they’re saying is there’s been a new agreement signed by Tel Aviv and Beirut that should lead to peaceful relations between the two countries.

Israel doesn't want the United Nations in Gaza and the West Bank either.

Lebanon’s Salam stresses need to avert potential ‘vacuum’ after UNIFIL’s withdrawal

Continuing his remarks at the UNGA, Salam warned of the need to “avert the vacuum” potentially created by the future withdrawal of UNIFIL, whose mandate ends on December 31.

Salam thanked UNIFIL and all countries that contributed forces to the mission and said there is a need for another international force to follow it.

“Such a force should ensure the continuation of monitoring, reporting and liaison functions”, he said.

After UNIFIL’s mandate ends, it will begin to draw down and withdraw over the course of 2027.

Lebanese army says it defused unexploded ordnance left by Israeli attacks

The Lebanese army says one of its specialised units has defused two pieces of unexploded ordnance left behind by Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.

The unexploded bombs were located in the towns of Majdal Selem and al-Ghandouriyah in Nabatieh governorate, said the Lebanese army.

The army urged the public to exercise caution in areas hit by Israeli attacks and to report any suspicious objects to the military.

Israeli army drops white phosphorous over Lebanon’s Zawtar al-Sharqiyah: Report

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency is reporting the Israeli army has dropped phosphorus bombs on the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah municipality, near the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.

Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon continue

Israel continues to destroy civilian infrastructure and carry out assassinations and bombings across the southern area of Lebanon despite a ceasefire in place for months.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency has reported the following Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon in the last hour alone:

• Israel bombed the towns of Sarbin, al-Mansouri and Qantara.
• Israel also carried out artillery strikes on Wadi al-Saloqi and Wadi Zibqin.