Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that the strike hit a vehicle traveling on the road between the towns of Zawtar and Mayfadoun in the Nabatieh region.

The attack marks the third deadly incident in southern Lebanon since Tuesday, bringing the total number of people killed in Israeli strikes this week to seven despite a recent reduction in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Medical and security sources confirmed casualties from the strike, which was carried out by an Israeli drone. No immediate statement was issued by the Israeli military regarding the operation.

The incident comes at a sensitive diplomatic moment as Lebanese and Israeli officials are holding a fifth round of direct negotiations in Washington under US mediation. The talks are aimed at reducing tensions along the border and addressing outstanding security issues following months of conflict.

Although fighting has eased in recent weeks, sporadic Israeli strikes and security incidents continue to raise concerns about the durability of the fragile calm in southern Lebanon.

Authorities are continuing investigations into the identities of those killed and the circumstances surrounding the attack.

The incident occurred near Nabatieh Al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon, where Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that Israeli soldiers opened fire on a group of people gathered near a bulldozer clearing a road in the Al-Deir neighborhood.

The Israeli military said its forces had struck “armed terrorists who posed an immediate threat” to troops operating in the Ali Al-Taher ridge area, within a zone in southern Lebanon that Israel has designated as a security area. The military did not immediately confirm whether its statement referred to the same incident reported by Lebanese authorities.

The deaths came as a U.S.-Iran-backed ceasefire arrangement aimed at halting hostilities in Lebanon faced its first major test. The truce, which has largely held since Sunday, followed diplomatic efforts linked to broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran seeking to stabilize multiple regional flashpoints.

Hezbollah condemned the shooting, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire.

“The Islamic Resistance warns that what the enemy has committed constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire, which the Resistance has adhered to up to this point,” the group said in a statement.

The latest tensions emerged as technical discussions continued following U.S.-Iran talks held in Switzerland on Monday. A joint statement issued after those negotiations announced plans to establish a “de-confliction cell” designed to oversee adherence to the cessation of military operations in Lebanon and reduce the risk of renewed fighting.

Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that developments in Lebanon are an integral component of the broader diplomatic framework currently under discussion.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said any breach of commitments related to Lebanon could complicate ongoing peace negotiations.

“Lebanon is an unquestionable part of the agreement, and whatever happens in Lebanon affects the whole process,” Bahreini told reporters, adding that the United States should use its influence to prevent further attacks.

Israeli forces remain deployed in parts of southern Lebanon following military operations launched against Hezbollah during the latest escalation. The most recent round of fighting began on March 2, when Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel in support of Iran during the wider conflict involving Tehran, Washington and Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israeli forces would retain operational freedom to respond to any direct or emerging threats posed by Hezbollah and would remain in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to safeguard Israeli security.

The incident underscores the challenges facing diplomatic efforts to transform a temporary cessation of hostilities into a durable security arrangement, particularly as Israeli forces remain on Lebanese territory and Hezbollah continues to insist on an Israeli withdrawal as a condition for ending military operations permanently.

Lebanese authorities say the conflict has displaced approximately 1.2 million people and caused extensive destruction across southern regions of the country. Israel has reported military and civilian casualties from Hezbollah attacks during the same period.

Lebanese and Israeli officials are expected to continue discussions through international mediation channels as efforts proceed to prevent the ceasefire from unraveling.

In a statement, the Iran-backed group said Israeli forces attempted to advance toward the hills under the cover of the ceasefire. Hezbollah said its fighters ambushed the troops and engaged them with what it described as “appropriate weapons,” forcing a confrontation in the area.

The group did not provide details on casualties or the duration of the clash, and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Hezbollah’s account.

Hezbollah said the incident demonstrated its determination to respond to any perceived violation of Lebanese territory while maintaining its commitment to the existing ceasefire arrangement.

“While it is committed to the ceasefire, it will not be lenient in confronting any enemy attempt to expand its occupation,” the group said in its statement.

The reported confrontation occurred near Nabatieh, a key city in southern Lebanon that has frequently been affected by hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. The Ali Taher hills are considered strategically significant because of their elevated position overlooking surrounding areas.

The claim came hours after reports of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, where smoke was seen rising from areas around Nabatieh. The latest developments underscore the fragility of the ceasefire and the continuing risk of renewed escalation along the Israel-Lebanon frontier.

Neither side immediately released independent verification of the events described by Hezbollah.

The National News Agency (NNA) said strikes hit multiple areas covered by the warning, including the villages of Rihan and Sujud, which lie near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.

Earlier, the Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate their homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River for their safety, citing the presence of Hezbollah-linked infrastructure in the area.

“Anyone who is in the vicinity of Hezbollah installations or means of warfare is endangering their lives,” Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on social media platform X.

The evacuation order covered 20 locations across southern Lebanon and came amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the region, which Israel has described as targeting Hezbollah positions.

Lebanese authorities have repeatedly warned that expanded evacuation zones and strikes are worsening humanitarian conditions in the south, where thousands have been displaced in recent months.

The latest strikes follow a pattern of near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah-linked forces, despite international calls for de-escalation and efforts to restore a ceasefire framework.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from Saturday’s strikes, and the situation in the affected areas remained fluid, according to Lebanese state media.

The escalation follows Israel’s capture of the strategic Beaufort Castle position, raising concerns that military gains on the ground could strengthen its negotiating position.

Lebanese officials said Beirut had rejected Israeli calls for the Lebanese army to immediately disarm Hezbollah, warning such a move could trigger internal instability.

Lebanese military sources said control of Beaufort Castle could give Israeli forces greater surveillance and operational reach across parts of southern Lebanon.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to discuss the situation at an emergency meeting requested by France.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported strikes near the Crusader-era fortress, while the Lebanese army said a drone strike wounded two soldiers near Nabatieh. Israeli forces have advanced in several areas south of the Litani River despite an April ceasefire.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets toward Kiryat Shmona and Safed in northern Israel in response to Israeli attacks. Lebanese officials said they would step up diplomatic efforts to halt Israeli military operations and evacuations in southern Lebanon.

The latest escalation comes a day after Lebanese and Israeli military officials held direct talks in Washington.

The Israeli military said the Wednesday strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force unit, escalating tensions despite a truce that began on April 17 and was intended to halt weeks of cross-border fighting.

Lebanese state media reported renewed Israeli strikes on several towns and villages in southern Lebanon on Thursday, while the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for residents in three villages north of the Litani River, beyond areas occupied by Israeli ground forces.

In the southern city of Nabatieh, strikes hit a shopping center and nearby residential buildings, according to Lebanese state media and an AFP correspondent at the scene.Airstrikes also targeted the nearby village of Toul, where two emergency responders affiliated with Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Committee were wounded while responding to an earlier strike, spokesperson Mahmoud Karaki said.

Karaki said the team’s ambulance sustained heavy damage in the attack.Photographs from Beirut’s southern suburbs showed upper floors of a residential building destroyed, with rescue teams continuing search operations through the debris on Thursday morning.

Despite the strike on its stronghold near the Lebanese capital, Hezbollah has not announced retaliatory action.The Israeli military separately said four Israeli soldiers were wounded on Wednesday, one seriously, after what it described as an “explosive drone impact” in southern Lebanon.

Although the ceasefire formally halted major hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, exchanges of fire and Israeli airstrikes have continued in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah has periodically claimed attacks against Israeli forces stationed in border areas.

The conflict intensified after fighting erupted on March 2, drawing Lebanon deeper into regional tensions linked to the broader confrontation involving Iran and its allied groups.According to Lebanese authorities, more than 2,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict began.

Israel’s military says 17 soldiers and one civilian contractor have died during operations in southern Lebanon.

The ministry said two separate Israeli strikes targeted a truck and a motorbike in the town of Yohmor Al-Shaqeef in Nabatieh district, resulting in four deaths.“Two Israeli enemy strikes, on a truck and a motorbike, in the town of Yohmor Al-Shaqeef in the Nabatieh district killed four people,” the ministry said in a statement.

The latest deaths followed Israeli attacks on Friday that killed six people in the southern areas of Wadi Al-Hujair, Touline, Srifa and Yater, according to Lebanese authorities.The renewed violence came days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced in Washington that the 10-day ceasefire that began on April 17 had been extended by three weeks in an effort to contain further escalation between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah entered the wider regional conflict on March 2 by launching rockets toward Israel, saying it was retaliating for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, further expanding the Middle East war.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli artillery shelling across several locations in the south on Saturday, along with what it described as a “violent explosion” in Khiam, a strategic border town east of the frontier with Israel.

The agency has previously accused Israeli forces of systematically destroying homes and civilian structures in Khiam and nearby villages.Israel’s military on Saturday renewed warnings to residents not to return to dozens of villages and towns inside what it calls the “yellow line,” a zone extending around 10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory along much of the southern border.

The army also said it had struck Hezbollah rocket launchers overnight in several areas, describing the operations as part of efforts to prevent renewed militant attacks.

Israeli officials have maintained that military action in southern Lebanon is aimed at neutralizing immediate threats near the border and preventing Hezbollah from re-establishing launch positions close to Israeli communities.

Lebanese authorities say more than 2,490 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since March 2, reflecting the scale of destruction despite repeated ceasefire attempts.On Friday, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayad said the group retained the right to respond to Israeli “aggressions” during the truce and argued that extending the ceasefire “makes no sense” while Israeli military operations continue.

The continued strikes have raised concerns that the fragile truce may collapse entirely, with both sides maintaining military pressure despite diplomatic efforts to prevent a broader regional war.

The Israeli military said the launcher had been used in an attack that was intercepted by its air defense systems. Hezbollah later claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.The exchange came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire had been extended by three weeks, underscoring ongoing fragility in the truce.

Hezbollah said its attack was in retaliation for an earlier Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese village of Yater. Lebanon’s public health ministry said two people, including a child, were wounded in artillery shelling in the area.

Separately, the ministry reported that an Israeli airstrike killed three people in the Nabatieh region in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said those killed were militants who had launched a missile toward an Israeli warplane.

Cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have persisted intermittently despite ceasefire efforts, with both sides accusing each other of violations as tensions linked to the wider regional conflict continue.

The strike targeted a government building in the southern city of Nabatieh, part of a broader Israeli aerial campaign across multiple areasvin southern Lebanon. Hezbollah said it carried out 31 attacks in response, including strikes on northern Israel and Israeli ground forces operating inside Lebanese territory.

The group also claimed responsibility for an attack on a naval base in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, approximately 145 km from the Lebanese border, signaling an expansion in the range of hostilities.The escalation comes ahead of talks scheduled to begin Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to be mediated by U.S. officials.

The office of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the discussions were agreed upon following contacts between Israeli, Lebanese and U.S. diplomats, reiterating Beirut’s position that negotiations should take place under a ceasefire.

However, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter described the upcoming meeting as “formal peace negotiations” and said a ceasefire would not be part of the agenda, highlighting a divergence in positions.A Lebanese government official familiar with the matter said a halt in hostilities remained a key condition for Beirut’s participation, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The latest round of fighting began after Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel on March 2 in support of Iran, prompting Israel to initiate an expanded air campaign and ground operations in southern Lebanon.Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 1,953 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the escalation began.

On Wednesday alone, about 100 strikes across the country including densely populated areas of Beirut killed at least 303 people, marking the deadliest day in the current conflict.Concerns have also grown over the safety of medical facilities. The World Health Organization has called for the protection of Rafik Hariri University Hospital after Israeli evacuation warnings covered surrounding areas, including the Jnah neighborhood.

Health officials said they had received assurances the hospital would not be targeted, though staff remain at risk amid ongoing strikes.Emergency responders continue to search for victims trapped under rubble in Beirut and other affected areas as hostilities persist.