Fighting flares in Lebanon: 18 die in strikes, Israel says soldiers killed

Lebanon said 18 people were killed on Friday in Israeli air strikes in the south, while Israel’s military reported its first soldiers killed there since the sealing of a US-Iran deal to halt the Middle East war, including in Lebanon.

Israel had said it was striking Hezbollah targets overnight and into the morning, while the Iran-backed militant group said it was attacking Israeli forces around the southern town of Nabatieh.

“The intensive Israeli air strikes carried out from midnight until this morning have prevented the evacuation of the martyrs and wounded, and have resulted in a preliminary toll of 18 martyrs and 33 wounded” in at least 10 villages and towns, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The strikes were the deadliest since Iran and the United States agreed to halt the wider Middle East war on Monday.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon had “fallen in combat” along with three other soldiers it did not immediately identify.

In a separate statement, it reported a reserve officer was severely wounded “as a result of an explosive drone impact in southern Lebanon”, with four other soldiers lightly injured in the incident.