16 people killed as Israel carries out strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon
Updated / Friday, 19 Jun 2026 08:40
Smoke rises during Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon
Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people, state news agency NNA said, while Israel said the attacks launched overnight were aimed at what it described as Hezbollah targets in several areas.
Residents and local media said Israeli airstrikes and shelling hit several towns in the Nabatieh district overnight and into this morning, in a bombardment that NNA said was among the heaviest in recent weeks.
The Israeli military said it had struck what it described as Hezbollah militants and infrastructure at several southern sites, in response to repeated violations of the ceasefire by the Iran-backed group.
It also said that four of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, its first losses since the US-Iran deal was signed to end the Middle East war.
The escalation comes a day after Israel published a map showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon beyond which it said it would not rule out attacks, raising questions over Wednesday's US interim peace deal with Iran.
The agreement calls for an end to fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, and for parties to respect Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty .
A senior Israeli official said Israel was engaged in "stubborn negotiations" with US President Donald Trump's administration over keeping troops deployed 10km inside southern Lebanon as it pursues Hezbollah.
A woman sits in the rubble of her destroyed home in Toul, southern Lebanon
Israel has rejected calls to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has kept up attacks on Israeli positions, some employing explosive drones that have killed and wounded troops this week.
"During the night, the army struck and continues to strike Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement.
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Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, said its fighters had targeted "three Merkava tanks with guided missiles, which led to their destruction".
The group said Israeli forces "consisting of an armoured platoon and an infantry platoon (tried) to infiltrate towards the northern side of the Ali al-Taher hills" -- a strategic site overlooking the key town of Nabatieh.
"The clashes are still ongoing," Hezbollah said in the statement released in the early hours of this morning.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in early March by attacking Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader at the start of the US-Israeli military campaign.
Israel retaliated with broad strikes across Lebanon and by launching a ground invasion in the south, which borders Israel and has long been under Hezbollah's sway.
An Israeli army humvee vehicle patrols along the northern border with Lebanon in Upper Galilee
Yesterday, Hezbollah said it had been fighting Israeli forces attempting to advance from the town of Arnoun towards the outskirts of Kfar Tibnit, near Nabatieh.
Lebanon's official National News Agency also reported a drone strike targeting a car in the Kfar Tibnit area, killing two people.
In the neighbouring village of Zebdine, another drone killed one more person, the agency said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said that peacekeepers in Lebanon had also reported exchanges of fire yesterday.
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