BY Elham Asaad Buaras
LONDON, (The Muslim News): Two young men were killed on Friday in an Israeli drone strike in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, according to eyewitnesses and Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA).
The men were riding a motorcycle near the Engineers’ Syndicate building when the drone struck in the afternoon, NNA reported.
The attack came as Israel intensified operations across southern Lebanon despite an agreement between Beirut and Tel Aviv providing for a gradual Israeli withdrawal under a US-mediated process.
Israeli forces also shelled at least seven towns and villages in the Tyre and Nabatieh districts on Friday.
NNA reported artillery fire and explosions in Mansouri, Majdal Zoun, Buyout al-Sayyad, Beit Lif and Srebbine in Tyre, and Zawtar al-Sharqiya and Mayfadoun in Nabatieh.
Israeli artillery struck the outskirts of Beit Lif and Srebbine in the morning, following dawn shelling in Mansouri, Majdal Zoun and Buyout al-Sayyad. Israeli forces also carried out explosions in Mansouri.
In Nabatieh, Zawtar al-Sharqiya and the outskirts of Mayfadoun came under intermittent artillery fire. An Israeli Merkava tank shelled areas of Zawtar al-Sharqiya from the direction of Mayfadoun, while explosions and heavy machine-gun fire were heard near the town’s western outskirts.
The shelling sparked a fire in a neighbourhood near Mayfadoun. No additional deaths or injuries were reported.
Lebanese authorities say Israeli attacks since March 2, 2026, have killed more than 4,000 people, injured over 12,000 and displaced more than 1 million.
Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon, including areas held for decades and territory seized during the 2023-2024 war. Its military presence has expanded during the current offensive.
Israeli forces kill Palestinian in East Jerusalem
Meanwhile, Israeli police shot and killed a 33-year-old Palestinian man in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday.
Police said officers near Damascus Gate spotted the East Jerusalem resident and alleged that he had “attempted to carry out a stabbing attack against them using a knife”.
Officers opened fire, killing him at the scene. His identity was not immediately released.
Following the shooting, Israeli forces deployed heavily around Damascus Gate and the Old City, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Wafa reported that Israeli forces imposed a military cordon and tightened restrictions, disrupting Palestinians seeking to attend dawn prayers.
In the northern occupied West Bank, Israeli forces said they arrested more than 10 Palestinians during a 48-hour military operation in Nablus and surrounding villages.
The Israeli army said its forces searched hundreds of locations, questioned dozens of Palestinians and arrested more than 10 people.
Local sources told Anadolu that Israeli forces raided the Old Askar refugee camp east of Nablus, entering homes and neighbourhoods, imposing a curfew and conducting field interrogations. They also seized two vehicles. No injuries were immediately reported.
Near Ramallah, Israeli forces closed the main entrance to Al-Mughayyir village, preventing Palestinians from entering or leaving, local sources said.
They also entered the Sahl al-Rafid and Shaab al-Louz areas east of the village and carried out what local sources described as provocative acts on Palestinian-owned land.
The closure came a day after Israeli army snipers killed Omar al-Naasan, 19, and Khalil Shahada, 16, as Palestinians confronted Israeli settlers accused of stealing sheep in the village.
Funeral prayers for the two teenagers were held on Thursday, with mourners carrying Palestinian flags and chanting against Israeli military and settler violence.
In central occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers entered Palestinian homes with their sheep in Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, damaging property and crops, according to local sources.
The attacks targeted homes belonging to the Abu Awwad family and surrounding land. The family has faced repeated settler attacks, including incursions around their homes and damage to nearby land and trees.
In the southern West Bank, Israeli opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv published video appearing to show an Israeli settler family taking grapes from a Palestinian vineyard in Halhul and loading boxes into their vehicle.
Kariv said an Israeli army vehicle arrived minutes later and ordered Israeli activists and Palestinian farmers to leave.
Israeli activist Aviad Hominer-Rosenblum said soldiers confronted the activists and Palestinian farmers, while police later sought to arrest the activists rather than those accused of stealing the grapes.
East of Ramallah, the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights said illegal Israeli settlers attacked the Kaabneh Bedouin community and activists present there.
The organisation said the attacks were part of growing pressure on Bedouin communities east of Ramallah aimed at intimidating residents and forcing them from their land.
The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli settlers and forces carried out 628 attacks against Palestinians, their land and property in August.
The attacks directly affected 164 Palestinians, including 20 children and 17 women, and damaged 21,508 trees, including 19,375 olive trees, according to the commission.
Around 750,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, in illegal settlements and outposts, according to Palestinian figures.
Israeli military and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, injured over 12,000 and led to around 24,000 arrests, according to Palestinian figures.
In Gaza, Israel has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000 since October 8, 2023.
[Photo: A building is heavily damaged following an Israeli army airstrike targeting a house in the town of Ramadiyeh, in Tyre, Lebanon, on September 5, 2026. One person killed and several others injured in the attack. Photojournalist: Mohamad Zanaty/AA]
