Beirut: The Israeli army committed several ceasefire violations Tuesday in Lebanon, according to Lebanese state-run National News Agency, despite a new round of direct negotiations between Beirut and Tel Aviv in Rome.
According to Anadolu Agency, the reported violations came as the seventh round of US-mediated talks between the two sides opened in the Italian capital, despite the two countries signing a framework agreement in June.
In southern Lebanon, the news outlet reported that Israeli military vehicles advanced from the town of Haddatha toward the outskirts of Aita al-Jabal in the Bint Jbeil district, while Israeli forces carried out artillery shelling and operated drones and reconnaissance aircraft above the area.
It added that Israeli troops also fired machine guns toward Haddatha as military vehicles moved inside the town toward Haris. NNA also reported that Israeli forces carried out large explosions in the area between the towns of Mansouri and Majdal Zoun in the Tyre district, as well as in the town of Haddatha.
An Israeli drone struck the Roueiss neighborhood on the outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, while Israeli artillery shelled the nearby town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya in the Nabatieh district, the same source said. Several Israeli Merkava tanks, accompanied by a bulldozer, advanced toward the outskirts of Haddatha and Aita al-Jabal, with one of the tanks firing a shell at a house, the agency reported.
In the east, Israeli fighter jets flew at low altitude above Baalbek and the Bekaa Valley, according to the NNA. Israeli warplanes also flew above the northern Bekaa region, while additional aircraft were reported in the mountainous areas of Akkar and Hermel along the Syrian border at medium altitude. In central Lebanon, Israeli drones maintained continuous flights above Beirut and its southern suburbs.
Tuesday's meeting is the second round hosted by Rome, following five previous rounds held in Washington as part of a US-sponsored negotiating process. Despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect April 16, Israel has continued its offensive in Lebanon, which began March 2, killing 4,333 people and injuring 12,250, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
In late July, the US State Department announced the launch of a pilot-zone initiative in the towns of Froun in the Bint Jbeil district, Srifa in Tyre and Zawtar al-Gharbiya in Nabatieh under a US-mediated framework agreement signed between Lebanon and Israel in June. The agreement provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, beginning with pilot zones where the Lebanese army would assume security responsibility following the withdrawal and disarm armed groups, in reference to Hezbollah.
Israel continues to occupy areas in southern Lebanon, some held for decades and others seized during the 2023-2024 war, while advancing more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into Lebanese territory during the current offensive.