Live updates: Follow the latest news on the Iran war
More than 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon's southern town of Nabatieh, including 12 members of the Lebanese security forces, civil defence told The National. The other victims were civilians.
Strikes hit a building opposite the entrance to the local government headquarters, where a State Security office was located, in one of the most intense attacks on the town since the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah resumed last month.
Other attacks targeted shops in the town centre and two separate locations in the nearby area of Kfarjouz, according to rescuers.
Israel’s targeting of a Lebanese state institution comes as Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold direct talks in Washington next week to set an agenda for further negotiations.
Lebanon is not a party to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group resumed hostilities on March 2 by launching rockets into Israel following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US and Israeli attacks on Tehran two days earlier.
“The targeting of state institutions and its security apparatuses will not deter Lebanon from its commitment to its right to defend its territory and preserve its sovereignty,” President Joseph Aoun said after the attack in Nabatieh. The statement issued by the presidency said 13 state security personnel were killed.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam offered his condolences to the residents of Nabatieh and to the General Directorate of Lebanese State Security in a post on X.
“This painful ordeal strengthens our determination to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible in order to protect Lebanon and our people in the south,” he said.
This is the first time Israel has targeted state institutions in Nabatieh in the current war. It destroyed the municipal building in a series of strikes in 2024, killing at least 16 people, including the mayor, Ahmad Kahil.
Israel's continuing attacks threaten to derail peace talks between the US and Iran that are scheduled to begin in Pakistan on Saturday.
Iran and Pakistani mediators said Lebanon was included in a two-week ceasefire announced early on Wednesday, a claim swiftly denied by the Israeli prime minister. On Wednesday evening, the Israeli military launched a wave of strikes across Lebanon, killing more than 300 people and injuring more than 1,100.
Lebanon has pushed to be included in the broader peace process but has yet to be invited.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued bombing southern Lebanon and issuing forced displacement orders.
Rescuers in Nabatieh said the waves of intense bombardment started overnight, sharing images of entire buildings engulfed in flames against a pitch-black sky.
Hezbollah launched around 30 rockets into Israel on Friday, causing material damage, the Israeli military said.
Fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters continues along the border in southern Lebanon.
