Israeli drone strike hits southern Lebanon day after security deal

An Israeli drone struck the Nabatiyeh area in southern Lebanon on Saturday, Lebanon's state news agency said. The reported strike came a day after Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered security arrangement aimed at reducing tensions along their border following months of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks to secure an end to fighting ‌between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter signed the trilateral document with the US at the State Department in Washington. "Today we've taken the first step in what will be a difficult journey, without a doubt, but an important and an essential and a necessary one," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before ​the agreement was inked. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah broke out when the armed group fired at Israel on March 2, days after ​the US and Israel attacked Iran. The Hezbollah attacks triggered Israeli air and ground attacks that have killed more than ⁠4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million. The officials did not provide details of the framework deal and did not say how its ​terms would differ from those included in an April 16 ceasefire deal that preceded several rounds of US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks. A senior Lebanese official source told Anadolu that the deal includes a “gradual” withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, without specifying a timeline or the areas covered by the withdrawal. The senior Lebanese source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu negotiations had made “progress on the outstanding issues” between the two sides. "The trilateral framework we signed today is a ​first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, enabling our people to go back to their land, and allowing all Lebanese to live in peace, security, and prosperity," Moawad said. Leiter praised Moawad for negotiating like a "lioness". "In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and ​the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in," he said. They did not take questions from reporters. Israel's death toll from this round of hostilities ​with Hezbollah includes at least 32 soldiers and four Israeli civilians. Hezbollah does not release figures on its war dead. Reuters reported on May 4 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters ‌had been ⁠killed in the war. The talks in Washington have included discussions on a proposal for Israeli forces to hand some of the territory they occupied in southern Lebanon to Lebanon's military. A State Department official told Reuters on Thursday that Israel had agreed to pull back from some of that territory, something Israeli and Lebanese officials denied. Before the talks resumed this week, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fire even as Israel kept troops in occupied southern Lebanon, territory it describes as ​a "buffer zone" aimed at thwarting Hezbollah ​attacks on northern Israel. Violence has persisted ⁠since the ceasefire, with Israel saying on Friday its troops had struck and killed what the military described as seven Hezbollah members who were operating near the territory it is occupying. Today, an Israeli drone has struck the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon, the country’s state news agency says. The NNA agency said the Farah amusement park intersection in the Nabatieh al-Fawqa area was hit by the Israeli drone attack. The reported strike came a day after Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered security arrangement aimed at reducing tensions along their border following months of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah. Lebanese, UAE presidents discuss Lebanon-Israel framework deal Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed a US-brokered deal between Lebanon and Israel, Lebanese Presidency said on Saturday. The discussions came over a phone call and addressed the wider region in light of recent developments, the presidency stated on X. Al Nahyan expressed the UAE's support for Lebanon and for the positions taken by President Aoun and the Lebanese government in this regard, it added. The UAE president also expressed his country's "readiness to assist Lebanon politically, economically and socially to help it overcome its current challenges." Aoun, for his part, thanked Al Nahyan for the UAE's support for Lebanon and its people, the presidency added. Beirut and Tel Aviv signed a US-brokered framework deal in Washington on Friday, concluding the fifth round of negotiations aimed at resolving outstanding disputes between the two sides. The agreement came after Israeli attacks have killed over 4,000 and wounded more than 4,000 others in Lebanon since March 2, according to the Lebanese authorities. Italy ready to support Israel-Lebanon deal diplomatically: Foreign minister Italy is ready to provide diplomatic support for the newly signed Israel-Lebanon agreement and could contribute to a future international mission following the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday. Speaking at a news conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where he is attending an international forum and the MED-9 summit, Tajani described the agreement as "certainly a step forward," while cautioning that it will take time for the situation to stabilise. "It is important that the goal of signing has already been achieved," he said, adding that Italy is prepared to "provide diplomatic support" and "play a role with our armed forces, with an international mission after UNIFIL." Tajani said he has spoken with Italy's embassy in Beirut and that the initial signals following the agreement are positive. "Now we need to translate the agreement into practical action," he said. The minister added that Italy, together with France, can play "a significant role" in rebuilding Lebanon, including strengthening its institutions to better guarantee the country's sovereignty. Regarding the possibility of a post-UNIFIL mission, Tajani stressed that any international deployment would have to be based on a multilateral agreement and said participation by Arab and Gulf countries should not be ruled out. Commenting on Hezbollah, Tajani said the agreement is unlikely to benefit the group because it can ultimately reduce its influence and lead to its disarmament. "We need to see whether Iran will favour the agreement or not. That is the issue. However, the agreement reached in Washington is certainly not a victory for Hezbollah," he said. "Hezbollah cannot continue to play a military role outside Lebanese institutional legality; it has always represented a threat to peace, but also a threat to Lebanon," Tajani added. Sea route near Oman expanding to facilitate traffic, US Navy says A maritime body overseen by the US Navy said a route through the Strait of Hormuz near Oman’s shores is expanding to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic, according to Al Jazeera. The announcement by the Joint Maritime Information Centre comes as the US pushes to reopen the strait. Iran has insisted ships must obey its orders and is warning it will start charging fees for transit through the strait, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed. The US and Gulf Arab states have rejected Iran’s demands. The Strait is considered around the world as an international waterway, despite being the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.

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