Israel conducted a strike on a prayer hall in the cemetery of the town of Tibnin, killing one man and injuring twelve residents.
The attack came after the Israeli military issued its first evacuation order in southern Lebanon in more than a month, instructing residents of Mansouri to leave the town ahead of what it described as a “forceful action”.
Hezbollah, the Iran‑backed group fighting on the Israeli‑Lebanese border, has not commented on the incident. The strike and the evacuation order unfolded as Israeli and Lebanese officials were attending U.S.‑sponsored talks in Rome aimed at keeping the long‑running ceasefire intact.
In late June, the three parties had agreed on a trilateral framework that would see the Israeli army gradually withdraw from areas it occupied in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah disarming. Two weeks earlier, Lebanese troops were allowed into a pilot zone after Israeli forces pulled out of the village of Zawtar al‑Gharbiyeh.
Hezbollah has rejected the agreement, saying its link to Israel’s withdrawal crossed “all red lines.”
According to Lebanese media, the roof of the prayer hall was struck by a drone‑guided missile. The Israeli military began conducting “precise strikes” in southern Lebanon after the same day’s statement that warned civilians in Mansouri of imminent “forceful action.”
Residents of Mansouri had returned in the weeks following the 19 June ceasefire, but the number has fallen sharply as Israeli strikes increased; only about 40 to 50 families remain in the town today. The UN’s humanitarian office notes that more than 820,000 people displaced by the Israel‑Hezbollah conflict have begun returning, but 360,000 remain displaced across Lebanon, with 26,000 in government shelters.
Since the war began on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader, the Israeli military has bombed a large part of southern Lebanon and maintained an occupation. The Lebanese health ministry records 4,333 deaths in the conflict, including 392 women and 253 children; 353 more have died since the ceasefire. Israeli authorities have reported 38 Israeli soldiers and four civilians killed on both sides of the border.
