Two Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon, first since June, as Rome talks drag on
Israel on Thursday reported its first military fatalities in southern Lebanon in more than a month, even as it carried out fresh strikes despite ongoing U.S.-backed talks in Rome aimed at ending hostilities.
The military identified the two reservists, killed in combat on Wednesday, as Major Harel Birenstock, 34, and Sergeant Major Tamir Vaknin, 33, of the 2855th Battalion, 55th Brigade. The deaths were the first Israeli fatalities reported in southern Lebanon since June 28.
The strikes, accompanied by the first evacuation warning in weeks, came as the United States led diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon in Rome. Beirut has sought Israel's phased withdrawal from the south.
In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces said it had begun conducting precise strikes in southern Lebanon in response to what it called a blatant violation of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation. The statement followed an order for residents of the town of Mansouri to evacuate immediately and move north. Lebanese state media reported one person dead and 11 wounded in a separate strike.
Diplomatic efforts in Rome encountered friction on Wednesday, with a source in the negotiations saying Israel requested an early end to the day's talks. The head of the Israeli delegation, U.S. ambassador Yechiel Leiter, reportedly blamed alleged misleading leaks by the Lebanese side. Talks were expected to resume on Thursday for a third and final day.
This week's negotiations are the seventh round since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the West Asia war in March with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer, Iran. Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.
The June talks, also U.S.-sponsored, produced a framework deal involving the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as pilot zones.
The renewed violence has disrupted a fragile calm. The UN humanitarian agency said the night before the strikes that more than 800,000 people displaced by earlier fighting had begun returning home, though over 360,000 remained displaced.
Mansouri, located around nine kilometres south of Tyre and 10 kilometres north of Israel, has been subjected to several Israeli strikes and artillery shelling in recent weeks despite the ceasefire that took hold in June. Its municipality had told residents on June 22 they could return but asked them to avoid the part of the town within Israel's so-called security zone, a strip of territory about 10 kilometres deep where Israeli forces continue to operate.
