Ammon News - The Lebanese military said on Wednesday that an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon wounded a soldier and three civilians, as the implementation of a deal between the two countries has stalled.

“A soldier was seriously wounded as the result of an Israeli targeting of an army vehicle” in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Lebanon’s army said in a statement, adding that three civilians were also injured.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that “an enemy drone attacked Nabatieh al-Fawqa,” a town that has been under repeated Israeli strikes in recent weeks despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

Iran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says has killed more than 4,300 people.

Lebanon and Israel concluded a framework agreement in June under US auspices, which involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon’s south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as “pilot zones.”

Violence has decreased since the signing of the agreement and of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding earlier that month.

Lebanon’s military deployed in two of the “pilot zones” in July, but the implementation of the agreement has been stalled since then.

In his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam pushed for the agreement to be further implemented.

Hezbollah meanwhile refuses to lay down its weapons, and Israel still carries out strikes on Lebanon and occupies land in its south despite the agreement.


AFP