One person was killed in an Israeli drone strike in eastern Lebanon overnight, while Hezbollah launched its first attack on Israel since the start of a fragile US-brokered truce , days before the two countries are due to hold rare talks on ending the conflict .
Lebanon's state news agency reported that an Israeli drone had killed one person and wounded two others in the Beqaa Valley in the early hours of Wednesday.
"One person was killed and two others were wounded as a result of an attack carried out by an enemy drone at dawn on the outskirts of Al-Jabbur in Western Beqaa," the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The Western Beqaa district borders southern Lebanon and has repeatedly come under Israeli attack.
Hezbollah said on Tuesday that it launched rockets and attack drones at a site in northern Israel in response to "blatant" Israeli ceasefire violations, including "attacks on civilians and the destruction of their homes and villages".
The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched several rockets towards troops stationed in southern Lebanon and that it struck the launcher in response. NNA reported on Wednesday that Israeli artillery shelling and demolitions were continuing in southern towns still under Israeli occupation.
This comes despite a 10-day US-brokered truce that came into effect on 17 April, which Lebanon is seeking to extend amid continued Israeli violations.
After fighting resumed between Hezbollah and Israel on 2 March, Israel escalated its invasion of southern Lebanon.
Israel has established a security zone several kilometres deep and currently occupies around 55 towns and villages along the border, totalling around 500 square kilometres, or five percent of Lebanese territory.
Israeli forces have continued a scorched-earth campaign across the region, blowing up entire neighbourhoods , destroying civilian infrastructure and razing farmland in what many Lebanese see as an attempt to create a permanent no-man's land.
While Tel Aviv claims this is necessary to push Hezbollah back from the border and create a buffer zone, many in Lebanon see it as a pretext for a renewed occupation of the south. No confrontation, no intimidation Lebanon and Israel are due to hold a second round of preparatory talks on Thursday in Washington ahead of broader negotiations. The first meeting took place last week and was the first of its kind since 1993. CNN reported that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee would be part of the American delegation on Thursday, reinforcing Washington's close alignment with Israel despite its role as mediator.
While Beirut and Tel Aviv have both said they want to end the decades-long conflict, Israel has demanded Hezbollah's disarmament, threatening to deepen its invasion and intensify attacks if this does not happen. Hezbollah has said it will not disarm while Israeli occupation continues and attacks on Lebanon persist. The group has also criticised the Lebanese government for engaging in direct negotiations with Israel while territory remains occupied.
During a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his government was not seeking confrontation with Hezbollah, but would not allow itself to be intimidated.
"We are continuing along this path, convinced that diplomacy is not a sign of weakness, but a responsible act to leave no avenue unexplored in restoring my country's sovereignty and protecting its people," Salam said.
"We are not seeking confrontation with Hezbollah. On the contrary, I wanted to avoid confrontation with Hezbollah, but believe me, we will not be intimidated by Hezbollah," Salam said when asked about the state's ability to disarm the group.
Salam added that the country would need 500 million euros ($587 million) over the next six months to deal with the humanitarian crisis that has seen around one million people displaced from Lebanon's south, Beirut’s southern suburbs, and parts of the country’s east.
More than 2,400 people have been killed since 2 March.
Macron said the priority was to end the war and ensure stability for the future, promising to help Lebanese authorities prepare for the negotiations.
"France does not need to be at any negotiating table, wherever it may be, in order to stand by Lebanon," he said.
Echoing the need for French support, Salam said negotiations with Israel would be demanding, and as a result, Lebanon would need the "active" support of all its partners.
Paris argues that, unlike Washington, it has a significant presence on the ground in south Lebanon with some 700 UN peacekeepers, and that any peace deal would still need a significant international presence to implement.
A French soldier was killed in southern Lebanon this week in an attack the French government blamed on Hezbollah, an allegation the group denies.