Israel's military on Wednesday issued a forced displacement order and carried out a wave of attacks in south Lebanon for the first time in weeks, accusing Hezbollah of a “blatant” ceasefire breach.
The developments meant that direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Rome ended early.
The army said Israeli forces were “compelled to act forcefully” against the Lebanese group, and had begun “targeted strikes” in southern Lebanon – although it did not initially say what the breach was.
It ordered residents of Mansouri, near the coastal city of Tyre, to leave their homes and move to open areas at least 1km north of the village.
A drone strike on a prayer room near a cemetery in Tebnine, about 25km inland, killed one person and injured 12, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.
“Today’s round of talks concluded at 15.30 Rome time. Talks ended early due to events on the ground, but will reconvene tomorrow morning,” said a US State Department official.
“Discussions focused on a range of political and military issues and were extremely productive. The technical teams made progress on determining key details on implementation of the Trilateral Framework.”
An Israeli military official told The National they could not immediately comment on the nature of the breach that caused the attacks, which came as delegations from Lebanon and Israel were holding talks in Rome.
“From our experience, the Israelis don't need anything to escalate. They can do it whenever they want,” a Lebanese official told The National. “They've been doing this since I don't know when.”
Israeli attacks had already struck the Mansouri area before the displacement warning on Wednesday afternoon, highlighting the extremely delicate situation in south Lebanon despite the Rome talks.
Artillery shelling on the Zebqine Valley caused wildfires, while state media reported that Israeli forces set fire to forests and fruit trees near the occupied village of Houla near the border, with the flames spreading to its western areas.
The forced displacement order is a grim reminder of the all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel earlier this year that led to more than a million people fleeing their homes.
Lebanese and Israeli officials began US-mediated direct talks in Washington in April, aimed at ending the fighting and Israeli occupation. A trilateral agreement was signed after the fifth round of negotiations at the end of June, after which the talks moved to Rome.
Lebanon entered the second round of talks in Rome seeking to show progress in the implementation of “pilot zones”, under which Israel's army gradually withdraws from dozens of villages and towns it occupies and the Lebanese army assumes control and verifies the disarmament of Hezbollah. Lebanon is also demanding that Israel halt demolitions and attacks in areas it holds.
The US State Department said on Tuesday that the Rome talks are focused on implementing the Trilateral Framework, which includes pilot zones, Hezbollah disarmament and “redeployment” of Israeli forces.
However, Wednesday's escalation could set back any progress. Lebanon has previously accused Israel of taking repeated actions that impede implementation of the framework agreed to on June 26.
Three villages were included in the first stage of the pilot zone scheme: Zawtar Al Gharbiyeh, Srifa and Froun, although the latter two were not occupied by Israel.
Lebanon is seeking additional pilot zones but insists they must be in areas the Israelis withdraw from, as opposed to what happened in Srifa and Froun.
