Israeli troops reach deepest point in Lebanon since Oct. 1 invasion, Lebanese media say

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since they invaded six weeks ago before pulling back Saturday after battles with Hezbollah militants, Lebanese state media reported.

The clashes and further Israeli bombardment came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the U.S. earlier this week on ending the war.

Israeli troops briefly captured a strategic hill in the southern village of Chamaa, about 3 from the border, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Israel’s military did not respond to requests for comment but said in a statement that its troops continue “limited, localized” operations in southern Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold, and several other areas including the port city of Tyre. An airstrike on the northeastern village of Khraibeh killed a couple and their four children, the National News Agency said.

Shrapnel from a strike in Dahiyeh wounded a teenage girl in the head and she was in intensive care, a hospital official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about patients’ conditions.

Israel’s military said it hit multiple sites used by Hezbollah.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel that the militants have said are in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

Israel’s military said a synagogue was struck and two civilians hurt in a “heavy rocket barrage” by Hezbollah on Haifa, northern Israel’s largest city. Police said they were lightly injured. Israel said Hezbollah fired more than 60 projectiles into Israel on Saturday. There was no immediate Hezbollah statement.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire — 80% of them in the past eight weeks — according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israel has said it wants to ensure that thousands of Israelis can return to their homes near the border with Lebanon.

Israel’s military said a soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon on Friday.

Meanwhile, in Gaza

In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike Saturday evening on a U.N.-run school sheltering displaced people killed 10 and wounded 20, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. It said two missiles were fired at the Abu Assi School in the Shati refugee camp on the edge of Gaza City.

Israel’s army said it was looking into the reported strike.

The U.N. Security Council’s 10 elected members on Thursday circulated a draft resolution demanding “an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire” in Gaza. The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to whether the council adopts the resolution.

A search for peace

On Friday, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister apparently urged Iran to try and convince Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire deal with Israel, which would require the group to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border. The proposal is based on U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

A copy of the draft proposal presented by the U.S. was handed over to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has been negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah, according to a Lebanese official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the secret talks, said Berri is expected to give Lebanon’s response on Monday.

Another Lebanese politician said Hezbollah officials had received the draft and would express their opinion to Berri. The politician spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing talks.

Berri told the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the draft does not include any item that allows Israel to act in Lebanon if the deal is violated.

“We will not accept any infringement of our sovereignty,” Berri was quoted as saying.

He added that Lebanon does not accept the proposal to form a committee to supervise the agreement that includes members from Western countries. A U.N. peacekeeping force already operates near the border in Lebanon.

Berri said talks continue on that and other details, adding that “the atmosphere is positive but all relies on how things will end.”

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