Three people were killed and 15 others injured in Israeli strikes across southern and eastern Lebanon overnight, Lebanon's health ministry reported on Saturday. One person died and 15 were wounded in the town of Ramadiyah in the southern Tyre district, while two more were killed in the Nabatiyeh region. The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes targeted Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in response to a drone launched by the militant group at Israeli troops operating in what Israel designates its security zone.
The strikes are the latest episode in a grinding conflict that has continued despite a ceasefire framework agreed between Israel and Lebanon in late June. That agreement set out a plan for Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group. However, Hezbollah was not party to the negotiations and has rejected demands to lay down its arms north of the Litani river — the waterway that runs through southern Lebanon and has become a de facto boundary for Israeli military operations.
At the centre of the current escalation is Ali Taher, a strategically positioned hill overlooking the city of Nabatiyeh and key supply routes in the region. Israel has been conducting operations around the site since July, and on Thursday night announced it had taken "operational control" of the hill and a network of tunnels beneath it, which it says Hezbollah uses to shelter fighters and store weapons. Israel described finding underground command centres, living quarters and weapons storage rooms at the site. Hezbollah has not formally responded to the announcement, and an independent journalist who visited a nearby village on Friday reported no visible Israeli military presence on the hill.
The hill carries significant history: Israel occupied Ali Taher for 18 years before withdrawing from Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah has resisted proposals — backed by both the Lebanese government and the United States — to hand the site over to the Lebanese army, fearing that Israel would then use it as leverage to demand further territorial concessions. Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri has said the army is ready to take control, but accused Israel of blocking the handover for domestic political reasons ahead of Israeli elections scheduled for October.
The standoff matters beyond Lebanon's borders. Analysts tracking armed conflicts note that Israeli control of Ali Taher would open routes toward Nabatiyeh and nearby areas where Hezbollah has maintained a presence for decades, potentially strengthening Israel's hand in future negotiations over a full withdrawal. Meanwhile, indirect contacts are reportedly under way between Washington and Hezbollah — a notable shift for a group that has long refused to engage with the U.S. — though any meaningful progress is seen as unlikely without Iran's approval. Lebanese and Israeli officials are due to meet in Rome later this month in talks aimed at reaching a more durable settlement.