• Four people killed in Lebanese town of Toura; several lives lost as districts of Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil and Sidon also attacked
• New round of negotiations between Tel Aviv and Beirut expected to be held in Washington next week

BEIRUT: Israeli air raids have killed at least 20 people in southern Lebanon, including a civil defence rescuer, according to Lebanese state-run media, and AFP correspondents reported Israel was conducting widespread strikes even as the second round of negotiations between Tel Aviv and Beirut is expected to be held in Washington on May 14 and 15.

Despite a truce in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, fighting has not stopped in south Lebanon, where an Israeli strike killed a civil defence rescuer on Friday.

The Lebanese health ministry said in a statement that “the Israeli enemy’s raid on the town of Toura” in the southern Tyre district killed four people, including two wo­men, and wounded eight others in a preliminary toll.

The NNA reported that Lebanese Red Cross teams recovered the bodies of two missing young men following Israeli air strikes on Thursday on the town of Blat in the Marjayoun district.

According to NNA, Israeli strikes also hit the districts of Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil and Sidon, among others on Friday. Several people were reported killed in various towns and villages.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched missiles at a military base in Israel in response to Israeli attacks that killed a top commander. In a statement, the group said the missiles targeted a base south of the Israeli city of Nahariya “in response to the Israeli enemy’s violation of the ceasefire”.

Upcoming talks

A second stage of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon is expected to be held in Washington on May 14 and 15.

Lebanese President Jos­eph Aoun met delegation chief Simon Karam on Friday. He will head the delegation flying to Wash­ington for talks. In a statement, Aoun said they discussed “preparations for the meeting scheduled for next Thursday in Washin­gton between the Leba­nese, American and Israeli delegations”.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2026