Israel confirms troop deaths as Lebanon talks underway

JERUSALEM — Israel reported on Thursday its first military fatalities in southern Lebanon in more than a month, after carrying out fresh strikes despite ongoing US-backed talks in Rome aimed at ending hostilities.

The military identified the two reservists, who were killed on Wednesday, as Harel Birenstock, 34, and Tamir Vaknin, 33.

The deaths were the first Israeli fatalities reported in southern Lebanon since June 28.

The Israeli strikes, accompanied by the first evacuation warning in weeks, came as United States-led diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon in Rome aimed at putting an end to hostilities, with Beirut seeking phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from the south.

"In response to a blatant violation of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has begun conducting precise strikes in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Lebanese media said four people were injured early on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes. One person died and 11 were wounded in a separate strike one day earlier.

In Rome, Israel requested that the day's talks with Lebanon end three hours early, a source in the negotiations told AFP, saying the head of the Israeli delegation, US ambassador Yechiel Leiter, had blamed alleged "misleading leaks" by the Lebanese side.

But the talks were expected to resume on Thursday for a third and final day. In previous US-sponsored talks in June, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a framework deal that involved the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon's south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as "pilot zones".

This week's negotiations are the 7th round since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East conflict in March.

Lebanon says Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,300 people.

In its first such warning since June, the Israeli military on Wednesday told the residents of Mansouri: "In light of Hezbollah's violations of the ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defense Forces are compelled to act against it with force."

The UN's humanitarian agency had said just the night before that more than 800,000 people displaced by earlier fighting in Lebanon had begun heading back home following the recent lull in violence, though more than 360,000 remained displaced.

A US State Department official had told AFP that this week's discussions would "include expanding the pilot zone process, resolving all outstanding border issues, and working on a comprehensive peace and security agreement".

As the delegations met in Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke with his counterpart from Iran, Hezbollah's main patron, and called on Tehran to halt the group's operations. Tajani, in a post shortly before the Israeli strikes, voiced hope that the talks would "yield concrete results".

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Tuesday that the direct negotiations would bring "nothing but shame, humiliation" and successive concessions for Lebanon.

Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected direct talks and refused to surrender its weapons.

AGENCIES-XINHUA