A child searches for salvageable items in the rubble of her home in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Roummane on June 18, 2026. AFP
"The intensive Israeli airstrikes carried out from midnight until this morning have prevented the evacuation of the martyrs and wounded, and have resulted in a preliminary toll of 18 martyrs and 33 wounded" in at least 10 villages and towns, the Lebanese health ministry said.
The Israeli strikes were the deadliest in the past 72 hours since Iran and the United States agreed on Wednesday to halt the wider Middle East war.
On Thursday, mere hours after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding stipulating the cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed three Lebanese.
In the evening, refusing to abide by the Washington-Tehran deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would maintain its strikes and occupation of the south of Lebanon.
Since the start of its expanded attacks in Lebanon on 2 March, the Israeli occupation army has killed 3,912 people and injured 11,873, according to figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The strike came as attention remains focused on the implications of the US–Iran memorandum of understanding, which was signed electronically by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the agreement aims to end the war between Washington and Tehran and halt fighting across related regional fronts, including Lebanon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously said that ending the Israeli war in Lebanon is an integral part of the agreement, adding that it also includes provisions for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would maintain its strikes and occupation of the south of Lebanon despite regional and international calls for Tel Aviv to withdraw its troops from the country.
Meanwhile, Israel's military reported its first soldiers killed in Lebanon since the sealing of a US-Iran deal to halt the Middle East war, including in Lebanon.
Hezbollah said it was attacking Israeli forces around the southern town of Nabatieh.
The Israeli occupation army said Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, commander of the 52nd "The Breachers" Battalion in the 401st "Iron Tracks" Brigade, was killed in combat along with three other soldiers it did not immediately identify, in what appears to have been a Hezbollah drone strike targeting a tank.
In a separate statement, the Israeli army reported a reserve officer was severely wounded "as a result of an explosive drone impact in southern Lebanon", with four other soldiers lightly injured in the incident.
US officials, including President Donald Trump and VP JD Vance, have expressed frustration at Israel's campaign in Lebanon, which it has pursued despite the US's negotiations with Iran, as well as a separate ceasefire agreed in April that was meant to halt the fighting there.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Vance stated, “Anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.”
On the other side, Hezbollah said early Friday that it had targeted Israeli occupation troops "with a barrage of rockets and mortar shells" near the Ali al-Taher hills, a strategic feature overlooking the town of Nabatieh.
It had also reported attacking Israeli tanks, saying forces "consisting of an armoured platoon and an infantry platoon (tried) to infiltrate towards the northern side of the Ali al-Taher hills."
"The clashes are still ongoing," it said.
On Thursday, Hezbollah said it had been fighting Israeli forces attempting to advance from the town of Arnoun towards the outskirts of Kfar Tibnit, also near Nabatieh.
Israel's latest escalation in Lebanon began on March 2, amid the backdrop of the US-Israeli war against Iran, which started on Feb. 28.
Shortly after, Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon in late March. Israeli bombardment amid so-called "evacuation warnings", has forced about 1.2 million Lebanese to flee.
The Israeli occupation army has also demolished multiple villages along the border.
Israel now occupies 608 square kilometres (234 square miles) in Lebanon, according to experts with the Carnegie Middle East Center.
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