Israeli airstrike kills two in southern Lebanon
Shafaq News- Beirut
Israel killed two Lebanese on Thursday in an airstrike targeting the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reported.
Separately, the Lebanese Army said it had deployed patrols and established checkpoints and observation posts in the towns of Froun, Ghandoorieh, Qalaouiyeh, Borj Qalaouiyeh, and Kfardounine in the Bint Jbeil district, as well as Qaqaiyat al-Jisr in the Nabatieh district and Srifa in the Tyre district.
These areas are outside Israeli military control during the latest fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
On July 15, the US Embassy in Beirut said Lebanon and Israel had agreed on the structure and operational guidelines for proposed pilot zones in southern Lebanon following two days of negotiations in Rome. Under a US-brokered framework signed on June 26, Israel agreed to withdraw from designated pilot zones before the Lebanese Army deploys there as part of a phased withdrawal. Israeli forces, however, have yet to leave those areas, while military operations in Lebanon have continued.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously identified Zawtar Al-Gharbiya and Froun as the first two locations in the pilot phase. Froun's municipal council, however, had rejected the proposal, arguing that the town is neither under Israeli occupation nor located along the so-called Yellow Line.
