Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters are exchanging fire near Beaufort Castle in south Lebanon, as Israel attempts to advance on strategic locations north of the Litani River.
The castle was hit by Israeli shelling on Saturday afternoon, with its military continuing its relentless bombing campaign overnight and into Saturday.
The ground advance attempt is part of an Israeli push further north of the Litani. Dozens of towns and villages have been emptied by Israeli forced displacement orders in the area south of the Zahrani River, as well as in east Bekaa.
Among those killed overnight were a father and son fleeing from the southern village of Ansar in the Nabatieh region.
Hezbollah claimed attacks on Israeli positions inside and outside Lebanon, including a missile strike on the Meron base’s air traffic control unit, 5km inside northern Israel.
Overnight, it also said it launched two rockets at Kiryat Shmona, an Israeli town near the border.
The Lebanese Army – which is not involved in the conflict – said some of its soldiers were injured when an Israeli drone targeted their vehicle in the city of Nabatieh on Saturday.
Nabatieh, along with the coastal city of Tyre, has been emptied out by Israeli forced displacement orders in recent days, as South Lebanon's two largest populations come under intense bombing.
Lebanon's Ministry of Health said 11 people were killed, including a paramedic, and eight were wounded in Israeli attacks on Friday.
Lebanese and Israeli military leaders met at the Pentagon on Friday for a round of US-backed talks despite the major increase in the fighting over the past few days.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday at the Presidential Palace, where they discussed the Washington talks and the sharp rise in Israeli attacks.
A statement by Mr Aoun's office said the next round of Washington talks will be on June 2 and 3.
Hezbollah has strongly criticised the Lebanese government for pursuing direct talks with Israel.
Friday's Pentagon meetings are the fourth time Israeli and Lebanese officials have met in the US and their first military talks, which are separate but parallel to a diplomatic track at the State Department and White House.
