Israeli troops make deepest incursion so far into southern Lebanon as Hezbollah considers fresh ceasefire proposal
By Mostafa Salem, Eyad Kourdi, Charbel Mallo, Niamh Kennedy and Tamara Qiblawi, CNN
Abu Dhabi (CNN) — Israeli troops are understood to have made their deepest incursion into southern Lebanese territory since the recent offensive began on October 1, as the militant group Hezbollah considered its response to a fresh ceasefire proposal.
On Friday night, Israeli forces reached the village of Chama, some 61 miles from the capital of Beirut, known for its shrine to Saint Peter, referred to in Arabic as the prophet Shimon Al-Safa.
After reaching the area, Israeli troops managed to blow up the shrine, which lies on the village’s main hill, according to reporting from Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA). CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the report.
A video obtained by Lebanese news outlet Al-Akhbar and verified by CNN showed smoke rising from the complex housing the shrine, which has traditionally been a popular pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims.
A nearby UN peacekeeping position was also hit by an artillery shell from the strikes, according to the NNA report.
Meanwhile, intense Israeli strikes targeted areas of Beirut’s southern suburbs Saturday, marking the fifth straight day of Israeli attacks on the Dayiyeh region of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. NNA said three areas were hit.
Large plumes of smoke were rising from the heavily damaged buildings, according to videos geolocated by CNN. It remains unclear if there were casualties from the strikes.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had targeted Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure, accusing the Iran-backed group of embedding itself within the civilian population. It issued evacuation orders across several locations ahead of the attacks.
Israel has intensified its strikes on the capital and expanded its ground operation in southern Lebanon in recent days. The heavy strikes coincide with revived negotiations for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
The US ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, relayed a new US-Israeli ceasefire proposal to the Lebanese government on Thursday night, a Lebanese official familiar with the discussions told CNN.
The latest proposal is the first to be submitted by the US and Israel since a temporary ceasefire was negotiated in late September. Those efforts were upended when Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a major bombing attack in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Authorities are ‘optimistic’ that Hezbollah will agree to the terms of the agreement. The government expects to submit an official response on next Monday, the official said.
It remains unclear if the intensified strikes across Lebanon will influence the ceasefire negotiations. On Thursday alone, Israeli airstrikes resulted in the deaths of at least 59 individuals throughout Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Most of the strikes have been in Shia-majority areas where Hezbollah wields influence, but Israel has also struck buildings housing displaced families well outside areas of the militant group’s dominance.
Meanwhile Hezbollah has continued systematically firing projectiles onto areas in northern Israel. At least 60 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israel on Saturday, the IDF said.
Israel launched a major offensive in Lebanon in mid-September following months of tit-for-tat border attacks, which started when Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza. Returning 60,000 civilians to their homes in northern Israel has become a political imperative for the Israeli leadership.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
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