Israel has defended this Thursday its recent bombings against positions of the Shiite militia party Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, claiming the presence of "terrorist infrastructure" in the area, despite the ceasefire in effect and while the seventh round of negotiations to try to end the conflict is taking place in Italy, now questioned by the escalation on the ground.
The Israeli Army has explained in a statement that "during the operations of the security forces in the area, thousands of infrastructures used by the terrorist organization Hezbollah were located, including: headquarters, outposts, launch platforms, observation posts, underground infrastructures, and numerous weapons."
The Israel Defense Forces maintain that Hezbollah has been consolidating "over the years" an operational network in rural areas of the south of the country, "implanting terrorist infrastructures in the heart of the civilian population" and using "cynically the Lebanese residents," which, they claim, places them "at risk."
In parallel, the conversations between the delegations in Rome have been seriously affected by these latest attacks, which have so far resulted in the death of two Israeli soldiers and left four others injured by the explosion of a device in the town of Majdal Zun, in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wife Sara have publicly mourned the death of the two uniformed men --identified as Major Harel Birenstock and Sergeant Major Tamir Vaknin-- whom he described as "brave fighters" who "fought heroically to defend the inhabitants of the north and the State of Israel."
"We express our sincerest condolences to the families who have lost what is most precious to them and wish a swift and complete recovery to the fighters who were injured in that same incident," added the statement from the Prime Minister's office.
On the other side of the border, the Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed the day before that an airstrike on the city of Tebnine, in the Bint Jbeil district, caused one death and at least twelve injuries. In addition, Lebanese authorities reported this Thursday that another eight people have been injured by new Israeli airstrikes against the city of Burj al Shamali.
The Israeli Army also carried out a series of attacks on Wednesday in the Tyre district, also in the south of the country, shortly after ordering the forced evacuation of residents from the municipality of Al Mansuri, where around 1,500 people still remained in July, according to data provided by local authorities.