• Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,348 people in Lebanon since March 2, including 393 women and 257 children, while injuring 12,307 others, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

France pushes for Lebanese army conference as talks with Israel stall

France is pressing ahead with plans for an international conference to support the Lebanese army, even as talks on a broader Lebanon-Israel-US negotiating track remain deadlocked, with no date set for an eighth round of discussions, reports the country’s An-Nahar newspaper.

According to the newspaper’s report, President Joseph Aoun received a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron inviting Lebanon to a preparatory meeting in Paris on September 17 ahead of the conference, which aims to help equip Lebanon’s armed forces with resources, training and logistical support.

Aoun traveled to Rome, where he is due to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday, with southern Lebanon and the negotiating track expected to top the agenda. Italy is among the countries seen as a candidate to help verify disarmament in areas covered by a planned buffer zone in south Lebanon.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri informed a delegation from the American Task Force for Lebanon that only Washington possesses the leverage to halt Israeli hostilities and secure a withdrawal to the international border, An-Nahar said.

Israeli warplanes target south Lebanon overnight

Israeli war jets launched a series of air strikes in southern Lebanon overnight, targeting the Ali al-Taher Hill and the nearby al-Dabsheh area on the northern outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Dawhet Kfar Reman, the National News Agency reports.

It said that the targeted areas were also subjected to intermittent artillery shelling through the early hours of the morning.

In the Tyre district, Israeli forces carried out controlled demolition operations in the towns of Majdal Zoun and al-Mansouri overnight and at dawn, accompanied by artillery shelling on both localities, NNA reported.

Israeli forces fire artillery shells into southern Lebanon

There are reports of heavy artillery shelling by the Israeli army against the towns of Wadi al-Salouqi, al-Hujair, and the valleys of Qabrikha, Touline and Hula in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.

The Israeli army also carried out a bombing in the town of al-Mansouri in the south of the country, according to the agency.

UNIFIL warns parties to ‘avoid any provocative action’ in Lebanon

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has called on all parties in Lebanon to “cease violations of the resolution and avoid any provocative action that could increase tensions or trigger further violations”.

Warning that instability “is not in anyone’s interest”, it urged “all actors to renew their commitment to Security Council resolution 1701”, which was adopted in 2006 and called for the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

UNIFIL peacekeepers “remain fully committed to their mandate”, it added, and are maintaining a visible presence across south Lebanon, including through monitoring, liaison and support for humanitarian partners.

Israel continues to attack southern Lebanon

Israeli bombing has been reported in al-Tayri in Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district, according to the National News Agency.

Al-Mansouri in Tyre district has also been targeted with artillery shelling.

Israel earlier attacked Wadi al-Salouqi, al-Hujair, and the valleys of Qabrikha, Touline and Hula in southern Lebanon.

FM Raggi urges Iranian officials to stop meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has called on Iranian officials to stop interfering in the country’s internal affairs in a post on X.

Raggi shared excerpts of his interview with An-Nahar Newspaper, in which he said, “Normal relations with the Iranian mission in Lebanon can only resume once Tehran complies with the Lebanese state’s decision, in accordance with established diplomatic procedures”.

“Iranian officials must stop interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs, the latest example being the statements made by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament” [Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf].

Hezbollah targeted by new US sanctions for links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

The US is imposing new sanctions on Hezbollah and re-designating it as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, saying the group poses a threat to US national security and “for service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force”.

In addition, 10 individuals have been sanctioned for allegedly smuggling large amounts of cash for the military group. “The network utilizes couriers travelling on commercial airline flights between Lebanon, Turkiye, the UAE, and Iran to move up to hundreds of millions of dollars,” the US Treasury said in a statement, adding that it believes the courier network is used “to support terrorist proxy groups throughout the region”.

The US first designated Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. The update is targeted at its current operations. The sanctions follow the US announcing a “crushing economic operation” on Iran.

UN says Israeli forces continue to threaten peacekeepers in southern Lebanon

The UN says its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon continue to face incidents involving Israeli forces, restricting their freedom of movement and raising concerns over their safety.

“On Wednesday, an [Israeli army] tank pointed its turret and a laser at one of the peacekeepers’ positions near Adshit al-Qusayr,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, told a press briefing.

He added that near Meiss el-Jabal, “small-arms fire struck close to a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon [UNIFIL] position while [Israeli army] forces were operating nearby”.

Dujarric said seven incidents restricting UNIFIL’s movement were recorded between Monday and Wednesday.

“Most involved the [Israeli army] and resulted in patrols, convoys or humanitarian movements being delayed, rerouted or required to turn back,” he said.

Dujarric also said UNFIL discovered unexploded ordnance near Ramyah and Kfar Kila, as well as an ammunition cache north of Markaba.

Israeli strikes target south Lebanon and Syria’s Golan Heights region

An Israeli strike just targeted the heights of the Ali al-Taher area in south Lebanon.

Israeli forces are currently firing artillery shells at agricultural land south of the village of Jbata al-Khashab in Syria’s Golan Heights.