While the southern suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah hotbed, remained cautiously calm, southern Lebanon and the Beqaa were subjected to violent attacks on Saturday, resulting in several deaths and injuries.
The Lebanese Army suffered more losses overnight Friday to Saturday in an Israeli strike that hit Bayssariyeh (Saida), killing a soldier and his two children. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed and three wounded on Friday in a strike on an army outpost in Kafra, in the southern Lebanese area of Bint Jbeil.
Also in Bayssariyeh, a mosque and a house were targeted. The latest death toll stands at 5.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Saturday warned residents of south Lebanon "not to return" to their homes as troops continued fighting Hezbollah militants in the area.
Israeli forces continue to "target Hezbollah posts in or near your villages", Arabic-speaking military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X. "For your own protection, do not return to your homes until further notice. Do not go south; anyone who goes south may put his life at risk."
In a separate post, Adraee reiterated an earlier call for health workers and medical teams in southern Lebanon to avoid using ambulances, claiming they are being used by Hezbollah fighters.
"We call on medical teams to avoid contact with Hezbollah members and not to cooperate with them," he said.
"The IDF (Israeli military) affirms that the necessary actions will be taken against any vehicle transporting armed individuals, regardless of its type."
In the early hours of Saturday, Israeli aircraft launched a series of strikes on Zefta, Kfar Sir, Ghassaniyeh, Bazouriyeh, Srifa, and Kawthariyet al-Siyad in southern Lebanon, destroying a 3-storey building. In Batouliyeh (Tyre), several injuries were reported. A little later, Israeli warplanes targeted Khiam (Marjayoun) and Doueir al-Sharqiyeh (Nabatiyeh), while artillery fire hit the Khiam plain.
On Friday night, the villages of Aita al-Shaab, Kafra, Serbine, Hanin, and Shacra were shelled. The Israeli Army also fired missiles at Majdel Selm, Tayr Debba, Kounine, Kabriha, Ramya, Majdel Zoun, Marwahin, Ainata, and Ghaziyeh, where one person was killed.
In addition, several other areas, including Tayr Harfa, Labbouneh, and Dhayra, came under Israeli artillery bombardment.
In the Beqaa, the villages of Nabi Shit, Saraine (Baalbeck), and Riyak (Zahleh) were targeted by raids.
For its part, Hezbollah announced that it had fired artillery shells against an Israeli infantry force in Khirbet Zar'it and against an explosives’ factory in base 7200 south of Haifa.
Israeli soldiers' positions were also targeted by artillery shells at Fatima Gate.
As an Israeli military bulldozer attempted to leave the vicinity of the Ramya site in the direction of the village, Hezbollah fighters attacked it with a guided missile. At the Jardah site and in Ma'ilia, gatherings of Israeli soldiers were targeted by a salvo of rockets, which were also fired at the Souma base in the occupied Syrian Golan.
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