Israeli fighter jets strike south Lebanon for first time since Saturday

Israeli occupation jets carried out strikes Friday in the Nabatieh and Bint Jbeil districts for the first time since the cease-fire took effect last Saturday, our correspondent in southern Lebanon reports.

Two strikes targeted Nabatieh Fawqa (Nabatieh) at 7:30 a.m. Friday, as processions were being held in the city to commemorate Ashura, a Shiite religious observance. Shortly after midnight, Israeli fighter jets also carried out two strikes on Beit Yahoun (Bint Jbeil).

Tensions had gradually risen overnight after about a week of relative calm, our correspondent reports, with artillery fire reported after 10:30 p.m. on the outskirts of Braasheet and Beit Yahoun, which was hit by more than 15 shells. Machine gun fire also targeted Beit Yahoun and its surroundings. Shortly after 11:30 p.m., artillery struck Kounin and Beit Yahoun, also in the Bint Jbeil district.

In addition, one person was killed and another seriously wounded when unexploded Israeli ordnance from the war detonated in the town of Mansouri (Sour).

Hezbollah denounces 'flagrant violation'

After three people were killed Thursday afternoon by an Israeli drone strike on a car on the road between Zawtar Sharqieh and Mayfadoun, Hezbollah denounced what it called another "flagrant violation" of the cease-fire by Israel.

"The Israeli army once again deliberately targeted Lebanese civilians as they were returning home on the Zawtar Sharqieh-Mayfadoun road, on the pretext that they posed a threat to its occupation forces," Hezbollah said Thursday evening.

The Iran-backed party denounced the strike as a third "flagrant violation" of the cease-fire, which it said it had "respected until now."

In addition, the fifth round of U.S.-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon, which was scheduled to conclude Thursday, will continue Friday in Washington, the U.S. State Department announced.

Reporting by our southern Lebanon correspondent, Muntasser Abdallah