Two Israeli reservists have been killed in southern Lebanon, marking the country’s first military deaths there in more than a month as Israel launched new strikes while US-backed negotiations in Rome sought to end the conflict.
The Israeli military named the reservists killed in combat yesterday as Major Harel Birenstock, 34, and Sergeant Major Tamir Vaknin, 33. Both served with the 2855th Battalion of the 55th Brigade.
Their deaths were the first Israeli fatalities reported in southern Lebanon since 28 June. Israel’s retaliatory attacks killed at least one person, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The strikes, coupled with Israel’s first evacuation warning in weeks, came as Washington mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome. Beirut is pressing for a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon as part of any agreement to halt the fighting.
Lebanese state media reported that a separate strike killed one person and wounded 11 others.
A source involved in the negotiations told AFP that Israel asked for the day’s Rome session to finish three hours early. The source said the head of the Israeli delegation, US ambassador Yechiel Leiter, cited alleged “misleading leaks” by Lebanon.
Despite the early conclusion, the talks were expected to resume today for a third and final day.
US ambassador Yechiel Leiter
During earlier US-backed negotiations in June, Israel and Lebanon reached a framework agreement calling for Hezbollah’s disarmament, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the area. The process would begin in designated “pilot zones”.
The latest discussions represent the seventh round of talks since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war in March by firing rockets at Israel in support of Iran, its principal backer.
Israel answered with extensive airstrikes and a ground offensive that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.
Yesterday, the Israeli military issued its first evacuation warning since June to residents of Mansouri. “In light of Hezbollah’s violations of the ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defense Forces are compelled to act against it with force,” it said.
“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north,” Ella Waweya, the military’s Arabic-language spokeswoman, wrote on X.
The UN humanitarian agency said the previous night that more than 800,000 people displaced by earlier fighting in Lebanon had started returning home after the recent reduction in violence. More than 360,000 people, however, remained displaced.
‘Shame, humiliation’
Mansouri lies about nine kilometres south of Tyre and 10 kilometres north of Israel. The town and nearby areas have been hit by several Israeli strikes and artillery attacks in recent weeks, despite the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel that took effect in June.
The town’s municipality told residents on 22 June that they could return, while warning them to stay away from the section within Israel’s so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon.
The term “security zone” refers to a strip of territory along Israel’s border where Israeli forces remain active, extending roughly 10 kilometres into southern Lebanon.
A US State Department official said the latest negotiations would “include expanding the pilot zone process, resolving all outstanding border issues, and working on a comprehensive peace and security agreement”.
As the delegations gathered in Rome, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke by telephone with his Iranian counterpart. Iran is Hezbollah’s main patron, and Mr Tajani urged Tehran to stop the group’s operations.
In a post published shortly before the Israeli strikes, Mr Tajani said he hoped the negotiations would “yield concrete results”.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Tuesday that the direct negotiations would deliver “nothing but shame, humiliation” and a series of concessions for Lebanon.
Hezbollah has repeatedly opposed direct negotiations and continues to reject calls to give up its weapons.
Violence has declined since the Lebanon-Israel agreement and the preliminary US-Iran agreement on the Middle East conflict signed in June.
Even so, Lebanon has continued to report sporadic Israeli strikes and shelling, along with explosions and demolitions in villages across the south.
Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah began in early March, Israel’s military has lost 38 soldiers and one civilian contractor.
