Israeli drone strike hits south Lebanon a day after US-backed security deal

BEIRUT: An Israeli drone struck the Nabatiyeh area in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to Lebanon’s state news agency, a day after Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered security arrangement intended to lower tensions along their border after months of hostilities involving Hezbollah.

The National News Agency said the strike hit the Farah amusement park intersection in the Nabatieh al-Fawqa area. The reported attack came shortly after Friday’s signing in Washington of a trilateral framework agreement involving the United States, Israel and Lebanon.

Framework signed in Washington

The agreement was signed at the US State Department by Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad and Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, alongside the United States, after several days of talks aimed at ending fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Before the signing, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said:

"“Today we've taken the first step in what will be a difficult journey, without a doubt, but an important and an essential and a necessary one,”"

Officials did not disclose the details of the framework and did not explain how its terms differ from those in the April 16 ceasefire agreement that was followed by several rounds of US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon.

A senior Lebanese official source told Anadolu, on condition of anonymity, that the arrangement provides for a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, though no timeline or specific areas were given. The same source said negotiations had made progress on the unresolved issues between the two sides.

Moawad said the deal marked an initial move toward restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a lasting end to hostilities, allowing displaced residents to return, and enabling Lebanese citizens to live in peace and security.

Leiter, praising Moawad’s negotiating approach, said she had negotiated like a lioness. He added:

"“In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in,”"

The two ambassadors did not take questions from reporters after the signing.

Conflict background and casualties

The latest round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began when Hezbollah fired at Israel on March 2, days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The ensuing Israeli air and ground campaign has killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than one million.

On the Israeli side, at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been killed in this phase of the hostilities. Hezbollah does not publish figures on its dead, though Reuters reported on May 4 that several thousand of its fighters had been killed in the war.

The Washington talks also included discussion of a proposal under which Israeli forces would transfer some of the territory they occupy in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese army. A US State Department official had told Reuters on Thursday that Israel had agreed to withdraw from some of that territory, a claim denied by both Israeli and Lebanese officials.

Before talks resumed this week, Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop firing, although Israeli troops remained in occupied southern Lebanon, which Israel has described as a buffer zone intended to prevent Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. Despite that arrangement, violence has continued. Israel said on Friday that its forces had killed seven Hezbollah members operating near the territory it is occupying.