The Lebanese army on Saturday withdrew its troops from a base in a southern Lebanese village after Israeli troops advanced in an area nearby, a military official said.
The departure from the army barracks in Kfar Tebnit came as the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for about 20 locations, including the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages.
A senior Lebanese military official told The Associated Press that the Lebanese army moved its forces from the Kfar Tebnit barracks following an incursion by Israeli forces into the area. The official, who did not elaborate, spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Israeli troops were likely trying to capture the strategic Ali Taher hill on the edge of Kfar Tebnit that overlooks large parts of Nabatiyeh and some of the roads that link the city with nearby villages.
Israeli troops held the Ali Taher hill for 18 years until they withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000.
In late May, Israeli troops captured a nearby strategic mountain topped with the Crusader-built Beaufort Castle in the deepest incursion into the country since 2000.
The push on the edge of Kfar Tebnit came a day after Pakistan’s prime minister said that the United States and Iran have agreed to wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators are working with both sides to finalize a deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state TV on Friday that both sides were working toward signing an initial agreement declaring an end to the war “on all fronts, including Lebanon.”
Senior Hezbollah official Hussein Haj Hassan told Al Jazeera TV that they have been informed by Iranian officials that Lebanon will be part of a future ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran.
