{"id":126755,"date":"2026-05-31T18:29:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=126755"},"modified":"2026-05-31T18:29:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:29:25","slug":"israel-launches-south-lebanon-strikes-after-warnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BEIRUT(National Times)- Israel launched strikes across south Lebanon on Saturday after ordering evacuations from more than a dozen locations a day after its premier said Israeli forces had pushed even deeper into Lebanese territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lebanon\u2019s army said a \u201ctargeted\u201d Israeli strike wounded two soldiers in the south, just a day after military delegations from both countries held landmark security talks in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The military talks in the US capital came ahead of US-brokered negotiations early next week \u2014 the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lebanon\u2019s state-run&nbsp;<em>National News Agency<\/em>&nbsp;(<em>NNA<\/em>) reported Israeli several strikes in the south, including artillery fire near the mediaeval-era Beaufort castle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lebanon\u2019s prime minister accused Israel of pursuing a \u201cscorched-earth policy\u201d in his country\u2019s south, urging a halt to the fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A day after Israeli Prime Minister Ben\u00adjamin Netanyahu said his forces had advanced deeper into Lebanon, his counterpart Nawaf Salam&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/amp\/2003954\">warned<\/a>&nbsp;the country was facing a \u201cdangerous\u201d escalation, and called for \u201ca swift and real ceasefire\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a televised address, Salam accused Israel of \u201cpursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment\u201d by \u201cdestroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile\u201d. This will bring \u201cneither security nor stability\u201d to Israel, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, he defended his government\u2019s engagement with its southern neighbour, after military delegations from both countries held security talks in Wash\u00adington on Friday, with more US-brokered negotiations planned next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Salam said the outcome of the negotiations was \u201cnot guaranteed\u201d, but called them \u201cthe least costly path for our country and our people\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A truce to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah officially took effect on April 17, but has never been observed. Both Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other of violating the ceasefire and justify their attacks by the other\u2019s alleged breaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A US statement issued after Friday\u2019s Israel-Lebanon talks made no mention of the truce, but said the \u201cproductive military-to-military discussions\u201d would inform next week\u2019s political meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hezbollah vehemently opposes the direct talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fresh attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lebanon\u2019s state-run&nbsp;<em>National News Agency<\/em>&nbsp;(<em>NNA<\/em>) reported several Israeli attacks in the south on Saturday, and the Lebanese military said two of its soldiers \u201cwere seriously wounded\u2026 by a hostile Israeli drone\u201d near the southern city of Nabatieh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Israeli military issued fresh evacuation warnings covering villages near Nabatieh and others in the east of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hezbollah said it launched multiple attacks targeting northern Israel, and had also clashed with Israeli soldiers near Ghandouriyeh and Debbine in southern Lebanon, saying it forced them to withdraw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Israeli military said that more than 20 rockets and drones were launched from Lebanon on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Lebanese health ministry says that Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,371 people since March 2, when Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in support of its backer Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hezbollah said it attacked Israel in retaliation for the death of Iran\u2019s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes when the war erupted on February 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iran has insisted that any agreement to end the wider Middle East war also cover Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Culture Minister Ghassan Salame had warned that Israeli attacks were putting Lebanese heritage sites in \u201cserious danger\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Lebanese presidency announced in a statement that President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had agreed \u201cto intensify contacts to put an end to these condemned Israeli practices\u201d ahead of the new round of talks with Israel scheduled for June 2 and 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aoun and Salam discussed \u201cIsraeli attacks and their expansion to a number of southern cities and villages, especially in the districts of Tyre and Nabatieh, in addition to the continued bombing and bulldozing of houses, and the destruction of historical landmarks in the south\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon\u2019s second-in-command, called the latest discussions between Lebanon and Israel\u2019s military delegations \u201cproductive\u201d, but made no mention of a ceasefire, a key Lebanese demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lebanon\u2019s military said on Saturday its two soldiers \u201cwere seriously wounded as a result of being targeted inside a vehicle by a hostile Israeli drone\u201d near the southern city of Nabatieh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Israeli military\u2019s evacuation warnings for Saturday included some villages near Nabatieh and some in the east of the country. Also on Saturday, Hezb\u00adollah said it fired rockets at the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BEIRUT(National Times)- Israel launched strikes across south Lebanon on Saturday after ordering evacuations from more than a dozen locations a day after its premier said Israeli forces had pushed even deeper into Lebanese territory. Lebanon\u2019s army said a \u201ctargeted\u201d Israeli strike wounded two soldiers in the south, just a day after military delegations from both [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BEIRUT(National Times)- Israel launched strikes across south Lebanon on Saturday after ordering evacuations from more than a dozen locations a day after its premier said Israeli forces had pushed even deeper into Lebanese territory. Lebanon\u2019s army said a \u201ctargeted\u201d Israeli strike wounded two soldiers in the south, just a day after military delegations from both [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-31T13:29:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-31T13:29:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-8-4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/\",\"name\":\"Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-8-4.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T13:29:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-31T13:29:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-8-4.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-8-4.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings - Nation","og_description":"BEIRUT(National Times)- Israel launched strikes across south Lebanon on Saturday after ordering evacuations from more than a dozen locations a day after its premier said Israeli forces had pushed even deeper into Lebanese territory. Lebanon\u2019s army said a \u201ctargeted\u201d Israeli strike wounded two soldiers in the south, just a day after military delegations from both [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-05-31T13:29:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-31T13:29:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-8-4.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/","name":"Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-8-4.png","datePublished":"2026-05-31T13:29:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-31T13:29:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-8-4.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-8-4.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126755\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Israel launches South Lebanon strikes after warnings"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126757,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126755\/revisions\/126757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}