Israeli tanks gather in the upper Galilee near the Israel-Lebanon border. AFP
In a statement, the Lebanese military said that "three soldiers and several civilians were killed as a result of the violent enemy shelling that accompanied" a commando operation carried out by Israeli forces, followed by "an exchange of fire between the enemy force and locals" in Nabi Sheet.
Lebanon's health ministry reported earlier on Saturday that at least 41 people were killed in Israeli strikes on the area. At the same time, Israel's army said that "no findings" relating to Arad were found.
"The series of raids launched by the Israeli enemy on the town of Nabi Sheet and surrounding towns in the Baalbek district resulted in a total of 41 citizens killed and 40 others wounded," the ministry said in a statement.
A previous toll had reported 16 killed and 35 wounded.
UN condemnation
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Ghana condemned on Saturday an attack a day earlier on a UN base in southern Lebanon that seriously wounded three Ghanaian UN peacekeepers.
Ghana said it had lodged a formal complaint with the UN.
It demanded, "that those responsible be identified and held accountable, as the attack constitutes a grave violation of international law, amounts to a war crime and affronts the protections afforded to United Nations peacekeeping personnel".
The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, has accused Israel of targeting them, and the UN peacekeeping force has said it will investigate.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres "condemns the incident on Friday, March 6, which resulted in three Ghanaian peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) being injured inside their position in Al Qawzah, southwestern Lebanon".
"The Secretary General underscores that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be respected at all times, and that those responsible must be held accountable. All must respect the inviolability of UN installations."
In its formal complaint to the UN, the Ghanaian government called for a "full, immediate, impartial and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack on personnel deployed in the service of international peace and security".
It said the officers' mess building inside the UNFIL base had been burned to the ground in the strike.
The attack occurred during an exchange of fire between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
The international UN peacekeeping force has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978.
On Friday, the UN demanded swift investigations into waves of fatal Israeli strikes across Lebanon.
Dujarric said the UN urged the parties to the conflict "to de-escalate immediately and fully adhere to their obligations under (UN) Security Council resolution 1701".
The UN resolution was designed to end a conflict in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah. It served as the basis for a ceasefire agreement in 2024 between Hezbollah and Israel.
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