Israeli troops have reached their deepest point in Lebanon, according to Lebanese press reports

Beirut— Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since launching their offensive six weeks ago and withdrew on Saturday morning after heavy clashes with militants from the political-paramilitary group Hezbollah, Lebanese state media reported.

The state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli troops captured a strategic hill in the town of Chama in southern Lebanon and about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli border. He said Israeli soldiers later withdrew from the hill.

He said Israeli troops also blasted the shrine of Prophet Simeon in Chama as well as several houses before retreating, but the claim could not be immediately confirmed.

Israel’s military said in a statement that its troops “continue their limited, local and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon.” The army did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Lebanese media reports.

The advance on the ground came as Israeli warplanes bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs as well as several other areas of southern Lebanon, including the port city of Tyre.

The early morning attack in Beirut took place in an area called Dahiyah, which the Israeli military described as a Hezbollah stronghold and said its planes had struck several positions used by the group. Residents had received advance warning from Israel, and it was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.

The increase in violence came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials were studying a draft of a resolution put forward by the United States earlier this week to end the war.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically intensified its bombing of Lebanon, promising to disable Hezbollah and end its attacks on Israel. Israeli gunfire has killed more than 3,400 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s health ministry – 80% of whom have died in the past eight weeks.

On Friday, Lebanon’s interim prime minister apparently urged Iran to try to persuade Hezbollah to accept a ceasefire deal with Israel that would require the group to withdraw from the Israel-Lebanon border. The resolution is based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.

According to a Lebanese official, a copy of the draft resolution was given earlier this week by the US ambassador to Lebanon to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who was negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the secret talks, said Berri is due to give Lebanon’s response on Monday.

Another Lebanese politician said that Hezbollah officials had received the draft, were studying it and would express their opinion on it to Berri. The politician also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about ongoing negotiations.

Berri told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that the draft does not include any clause allowing Israel to take action in Lebanon if the agreement is violated.

“We will not accept any violation of our sovereignty,” the newspaper quoted Berry as saying.

He said one of the elements outlined in the draft that Lebanon does not accept is the proposal to create a committee to monitor the agreement that includes members from Western countries.

Berry stated that negotiations are ongoing regarding this point as well as other details in the draft, adding that “the atmosphere is positive but it all depends on how things end up.”

Efforts are also being made to end the war between Israel and Hamas, which began after fighters from the Palestinian group attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians , and took more than 250 people hostage.

The 10 elected members of the UN Security Council issued a draft resolution on Thursday calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to convincing the UN Security Council to adopt the resolution. The other four permanent members – Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France – are expected to support it or abstain.

According to Palestinian health officials, more than 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli shelling and ground attacks since the initial Hamas attack. The count did not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but officials have said more than half of the dead were women and children.

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Associated Press writer David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.