Israel keeps its troops as violence continues in Lebanon and Gaza
Israel says it will keep troops in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza as Israeli munitions are blamed for fires in southern Lebanon. An air strike in Beit Lahiya killed 1 person.
Geopolitics··Midday
Military zones outlast the withdrawal timetable
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said during a visit to troops in southern Lebanon that Israel would not withdraw from the security zones it holds in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. Katz also said the military was destroying underground infrastructure and houses within the southern Lebanon zone. The Israeli-held strip reaches into Lebanese territory. His statement came roughly 2 months after a US-sponsored framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon. That agreement provides for Hezbollah's disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the south and deployment of the Lebanese army, with further talks planned in Rome in early September. Israeli forces have nevertheless held the zone since the escalation with Hezbollah in March 2026. The Israeli military also conducts repeated incursions and strikes in Syria and controls more than 60 per cent of Gaza. With negotiations still on the calendar, Katz's remarks made Israel's position explicit: its military presence in these areas is not expected to end in the near term.[1]
Life amid fire in southern Lebanon
Firefighters, residents and environmental groups in southern Lebanon accuse the Israeli military of causing woodland fires. Hussein Fakih, head of civil defence in the Nabatieh region, said Israeli forces dropped flares into woodland outside Khiam on Tuesday. According to Fakih, a drone then struck nearby as crews tried to extinguish the blaze, forcing the firefighters to retreat. He said most civil-defence missions now involved fires and estimated that roughly 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the land near the front line had burned, while acknowledging that he did not have precise figures. Fakih also alleged that since the 17 June ceasefire largely halted fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, small drones had dropped incendiary material, white-phosphorus shells had hit woodland and flares had been released in daylight. The report said Israeli munitions started large fires on Friday at Kfarchouba and between Jezzine and the western Bekaa valley. The accepted news item contains no response from the Israeli military to those allegations.[2]
A week-long lull ends in Beit Lahiya
In Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, an Israeli air strike hit a three-wheeled vehicle near the Western Roundabout. The attack killed 1 person and wounded 5. Gaza's civil defence agency identified the dead man as Mohanad Saada, a member of a municipal maintenance crew returning after repairing a water well damaged in earlier military operations. The Israeli military said the target was a Hamas commander planning attacks on Israeli forces. Civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal said Israeli air strikes and assassinations had almost completely stopped for more than 1 week before aerial bombardment resumed that day. The body and the injured were taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Heavy air raids have eased following international diplomatic talks, but ground-level shelling and drone attacks have continued. Israel's declaration that it will retain its zones, the danger faced by firefighters in Lebanon and the Beit Lahiya strike show military pressure continuing in civilian areas despite ceasefires and diplomatic efforts.[3], [1], [2]
