Israel seizes strategic castle in deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years

The fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war, displacing more than 1.2 million people as a result of Israeli strikes and evacuation orders since 2 March. A truce officially began on 17 April but has never been observed. Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other daily of violations as justification for their attacks.

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the village of Arnoun in the Marjayoun area of southern Lebanon. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

For many in Lebanon, Nabatieh carries a significance that extends beyond its strategic value. Long regarded as a symbol of resistance, the city has repeatedly been on the frontline of Israeli military campaigns and is deeply embedded in the political and historical memory of southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces have moved past the towns of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Mayfadoun in recent days and are approaching Choukine, where local people were ordered to evacuate on Saturday amid fears of further military operations.

Taking over Nabatieh would deal a blow to Hezbollah’s morale, said Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, a thinktank based in Beirut.

Addressing fears of a virtual annexation, he said: “Given the level of destruction in the so-called ‘yellow zone’, the range of possibilities is between denying the return of the population, and annexation/settlement in a similar fashion to the West Bank.

“Annexation is no longer a wild conspiracy theory. There are ministerial statements to this effect from Israel’s finance and national security ministers, among others.”

Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, accused Israel on Saturday of “pursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” by “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile” in the south of the country. He said the country was facing a “dangerous” escalation and called for “a swift and real ceasefire”.

The actions would bring “neither security nor stability” to Israel, he said.

Salam defended his government’s engagement with its southern neighbour after military delegations held security talks in Washington on Friday. More US-brokered negotiations are planned next week.

He said the outcome of the talks was not guaranteed, but called them “the least costly path for our country and our people”.

The Lebanese health ministry said eight people, including three women, had been killed after a strike on southern Lebanon on Sunday.

Reuters reported the Israeli military as saying one of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said earlier on Saturday that it had targeted the air traffic control unit at the Meron base in northern Israel, a strategic surveillance and command facility near the Lebanese border. The group also claimed responsibility for rocket fire towards Kiryat Shmona, one of the Israeli communities most exposed to the conflict.

Videos on social media appeared to show beachgoers in northern Israel running for shelter as Hezbollah rockets were launched towards the area, according to local media. The barrage was the first fired from Lebanon towards the coastal city of Nahariya in three weeks.

The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli attacks had killed at least 3,371 people since 2 March, when Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in support of Iran. The group said it had attacked Israel in retaliation for the death of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes when the war erupted on 28 February.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report