Major explosions were reported in the south Lebanese town of Khiam early on Wednesday as Israel and Lebanon began a second day of direct talks in Rome.
Lebanon's National News Agency reported “a huge bombing” at 3am in Khiam, a strategic and highly symbolic town that is occupied by Israel.
The Israeli military is carrying out a campaign of destruction in the dozens of towns and villages it occupies in south Lebanon – detonating what it says is Hezbollah infrastructure but also flattening homes and other buildings.
Khiam was a key early battleground after war broke out again between Hezbollah and Israel in early March. The town had already suffered extensive damage in their previous year-long war that ended with a ceasefire in November 2024.
The sixth round of direct peace talks between Lebanon and Israel began at the US embassy in Rome on Tuesday, with Lebanon pushing for Israeli withdrawal from two “pilot zones” under the framework agreement reached last month during their previous meeting in Washington.
The Lebanese army is supposed to assume control of those zones and ensure Hezbollah's disarmament in exchange for Israeli withdrawal. However, Israel has not pulled its troops out of either zone and instead increased its attacks on one of them as the latest talks began.
