Israel intensified its strikes on southern Lebanon late Thursday night and into Friday morning, days after an interim United States-Iran agreement was signed stipulating that all fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, should end immediately. The fighting in the south on Thursday night was concentrated around the Ali Taher hills in Nabatieh, where Israeli forces have repeatedly attempted to advance and take control of the high ground but have been pushed back by Hezbollah fighters, a source in the area told Mada Masr. The latest clashes resulted in Hezbollah ambushing advancing forces and destroying three Merkava tanks with guided missiles in the early hours of Friday morning, the group said in a statement. Shortly after the failed advance, Israel escalated its strikes across the Nabatieh region after midnight, targeting areas including Kfar Joz, Kfar Tebnit, Mayfadoun, Kfar Dejjal, Harouf, Kfar Reman and Choukine through artillery shelling, drone strikes and airstrikes. The bombardment triggered a new wave of displacement from the Nabatieh region, where residents had only recently begun returning. According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at least 47 people were killed by the Israeli strikes, while Israel announced that four of its soldiers had been killed in the latest round of fighting. Israeli forces have been attempting to advance toward the Ali Taher hills since June 13, according to a source in Nabatieh city. The source said Israeli troops positioned inside Beaufort Castle, which Israel took control of at the end of May, attempted to advance through side roads in the Zafata area of Kfar Tebnit toward the Maabar area on the town’s outskirts, from where they have been trying, for the fourth time, to reach the Ali Taher hills. While Israeli troops are “minutes away” from Ali Taher, their inability to move from low ands has consistently stymied them, the source said. Retired Lebanese Armed Forces Brigadier General Mounir Shehadeh told Mada Masr that the Ali Taher hills are considered elevated terrain that provides wide oversight over large areas of South Lebanon, making control of the site — or even approaching it — a significant military and intelligence advantage. He added that the hills also carry symbolic significance for Israeli forces, which occupied the area from 1982 to 2000. For now, diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran move forward, with a ceasefire in Lebanon forming part of the broader negotiations. However, Israel has attempted to spoil that agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X on Friday that he had instructed the Israeli military to “strike Hezbollah with full force.” “My directive is clear: Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks,” he said. The statement came despite reports that US President Donald Trump had spoken with the Israeli prime minister and urged him to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah. The fighting in Lebanon delayed the start of the technical negotiations between Iranian and American officials that were supposed to begin on Friday. To try to get things back on track, the US pushed for yet another ceasefire in southern Lebanon, which reportedly came into effect at around 4 pm Lebanon time. US officials stated that US and Qatari negotiators had brokered the agreement with assistance from Iran. However, Israel violated the ceasefire less than an hour after it took effect, carrying out several airstrikes and artillery strikes across the Nabatieh region. The push for Ali Taher has been playing out over the last week. Hezbollah has announced that it thwarted multiple Israeli attempts to advance toward the Ali Taher hills, including two incursions on June 13. The group said it carried out 19 attacks targeting Israeli forces and military assets that day. According to Hezbollah statements, an Israeli infantry unit attempted on June 13 to advance into the Maabar area near Kfar Tebnit under the cover of artillery fire and smoke shells, before being drawn into a pre-planned ambush involving explosive devices, gunfire and artillery strikes that forced the troops to withdraw. According to the source in Nabatieh, the routes leading to the hills are exposed and visible from multiple directions, including nearby elevated vantage points in Iqlim al-Tuffah, Rihan and Mahmoudiyeh, which has made any advance difficult to conceal. The hills have long held military significance for Hezbollah and have previously contained trenches and defensive fortifications. The area is also well known to Israeli forces, which maintained positions there during the occupation of South Lebanon following the 1982 invasion. Because of its elevation and oversight of key routes, control of the Ali Taher hills would increase Israel’s ability to project firepower across much of the Nabatieh region, including Nabatieh city, while potentially strengthening efforts to separate the Beqaa Valley from southern Lebanon, the source in the city said. According to Shehadeh, the Israeli military’s repeated attempts to advance serve several conventional objectives, such as controlling high ground or observation points that provide an intelligence advantage, establishing a security belt that pushes danger away from northern settlements, improving political and military negotiating terms, and imposing a field reality before any international settlement. “As for the ultimate goal, it is not necessarily to occupy vast areas, but rather an attempt to impose a new security reality that allows Israel to say it has scored a field victory that can be built upon politically,” he said. Shehadeh said the impact of any US-Iran MoU on Lebanon depends on its actual provisions. He outlined two scenarios: either the agreement brings regional calm and gradual de-escalation, or Israel tries to preempt it by imposing a new reality on the ground. However, he cautioned that it is still too early to say the rules of engagement have permanently changed, as established field realities are not yet available. The Friday escalation comes ahead of talks between Lebanon and Israel aimed at negotiating a ceasefire and cementing border security, which are expected to continue on Tuesday for a new round of direct talks with Israel in Washington, scheduled from Monday to Thursday. Shehadeh said military escalation and diplomacy are naturally linked, explaining that warring parties often try to improve their negotiating cards ahead of major international talks. He suggested that Israel’s recent movements are likely an attempt to strengthen its bargaining position for a future settlement, rather than a preparation for a full-scale war. However, mutual attrition could continue for a long period if the causes of the conflict remain. “The resistance considers that the continued presence of any occupation within Lebanese territory constitutes a reason for the confrontation to continue, while Israel sees that the presence of a threat on its borders justifies the continuation of its operations,” the former brigadier said. Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday the cancellation of planned US-Iran negotiations at the Bürgenstock resort. Tehran played down the decision, with officials describing the meeting as superfluous following the earlier signing of an electronic memorandum aimed at ending hostilities. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said preparations for future discussions are already in motion and emphasized that progress toward a final accord would depend on the implementation of the memorandum’s provisions and continued adherence to them. On Saturday afternoon, Netanyahu ordered the military to halt operations in Lebanon without withdrawing troops from their current positions, according to Israeli Channel 12. Yet the near-instant breaches of one ceasefire after another offer little guarantee that a lull, if it materializes at all, would last. The post Shrugging off multiple ceasefires, Israel tries for high ground in Nabatieh to set new rules of engagement, but faces resistance, diplomatic pressure to halt first appeared on Mada Masr.
