Israeli strikes kill 9 in Lebanon, Israeli soldier killed in Hezbollah attack

Israeli strikes killed at least nine people and wounded dozens in southern Lebanon on Friday, according to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), reported Xinhua.

An Israeli drone strike on a car in the city of Nabatieh killed two people reportedly collecting food aid and wounded a third.

An overnight airstrike on the town of Harouf killed four, followed by two more strikes that killed three and wounded four others, the NNA said.

Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center said that strikes on several towns in the Tyre district wounded at least 37, including medical staff, women, and children.

The Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for several towns in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli drones, troops, military bulldozers, and a Merkava tank in several areas of southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday said an Israeli infantry soldier was killed in an overnight attack by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that the soldier was killed by a mortar shell fired by Hezbollah at Israeli forces near the Litani River, in territory controlled by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.

The soldier, Staff Sergeant Negev Dagan, 20, was a fighter in the IDF's Golani Brigade.

Israel's Channel 12 News reported that Golani troops have been conducting a special operation in recent days on the banks of the Litani River, about 10 km north of the Israeli border.

The report said the operation aims to destroy significant Hezbollah military infrastructure, both above and below ground, and to carry out engineering work in the river area that will allow the passage of larger forces if the IDF is required to expand the maneuver in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the IDF said it successfully intercepted a rocket launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon on Friday morning toward communities in the Lower Galilee region of northern Israel, near the Sea of Galilee. No casualties were reported.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the strike.

Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 45-day extension of their ceasefire that took effect last month, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Friday, reported Xinhua.

"The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress," State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said on X.

Israel and Lebanon will resume political negotiations at the U.S. State Department on June 2-3, while their military delegates are set to launch parallel security talks at the Pentagon on May 29, Piggott said.

The two countries held their third round of direct talks here on Thursday and Friday, which Piggott described as "highly-productive."

Despite the ceasefire, clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon have continued. Israeli strikes killed at least nine people and wounded dozens in southern Lebanon on Friday, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli drones, troops, military bulldozers, and a Merkava tank in several areas of southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center said that Israeli attacks between March 2 and May 15 killed 2,951 people and wounded 8,988 others.