The Lebanese army is "repositioning and regrouping forces" from the southern border, the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Lebanon's national army is dwarfed by the military power of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel reported "Zionist artillery shelling" near the border areas of Wazzani, the Khiam valley, Alma Al-Shaab and Naqura.
Wazzani and Khiam are right across from Metula in the north of Israel, where the military on Monday declared a closed military zone including Metula, Misgav Am, and Kfar Giladi.
The US State Department later said Israel is "currently conducting" limited ground operations targeting Hezbollah inside Lebanon.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported "continued artillery shelling" on Wazzani and the nearby Marjayoun plain and Khiam "for more than two hours".
Last Friday, the Israeli army killed Hezbollah's powerful leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on the group's southern Beirut bastion.
For the past week, Israel has launched an intense bombing campaign on the country's east, south and southern Beirut suburbs, killing hundreds of people and displacing up to one million, according to Lebanese officials.
The war follows nearly one year of cross-border exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah that the Lebanese group said were in support of Palestinian ally Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza.
French FM in Beirut, despite air strikes: ministry
Beirut, Lebanon (AFP) Sept 29, 2024 -
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon Sunday night, his ministry said, making him the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since Israeli air strikes intensified one week ago.
The arrival of Barrot, who earlier called for an immediate halt to the strikes, came as the foreign ministry announced that a second French national had been killed in Lebanon, though details were unclear.
Barrot oversaw delivery of 11.5 tonnes of French humanitarian aid, Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad said.
After a meeting about the status of French nationals, Barrot on Monday will meet officials including Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
He is also due to meet the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and members of the UN peacekeeping force in the south.
"We confirm the death of a second French national," his ministry said Sunday, adding that further details will be supplied later.
The death comes after an 87-year-old French woman died last Monday after a blast in a village in south Lebanon.
Israel's military on Sunday said it struck more targets of Lebanon's Iran-backed group Hezbollah, after its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a Beirut air raid on Friday.
The violence has raised strong fears of even further escalation in the Middle East.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also appointed a former foreign and defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, as special envoy to Lebanon.
Le Drian has visited the country six times, most recently at the beginning of the week.
German air force to fly out some Beirut embassy staff
Berlin (AFP) Sept 30, 2024 -
Germany sent an air force plane to strife-torn Lebanon on Monday to fly out some Beirut embassy staff, their dependants and German citizens with medical conditions, the government said.
"An Air Force A321 aircraft flew to Beirut today to support the departure of the colleagues and their families," said a joint statement by the foreign and defence ministries.
"German nationals who are particularly at risk due to medical circumstances are also being taken on the Bundeswehr aircraft," said the statement, which added that staff of some German partner organisations were also being picked up.
Israel has been bombing targets of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Beirut and eastern and southern Lebanon, in strikes that have killed hundreds and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes.
The Beirut embassy remained operational to help the estimated 1,800 German citizens in the country, and only non-essential embassy staff and their families were being taken out of the country.
"The embassy continues to support the remaining Germans in Lebanon in their departure via commercial flights and other means," the statement added.
At the weekend, Berlin raised its alert level for the missions in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
A German government spokesman earlier on Monday said that "we are currently at a stage where we support the departure (of citizens) but we are explicitly not in an evacuation scenario."
The statement reiterated that "all Germans in Lebanon have been urged to leave the country since October 2023."
Hezbollah began low-intensity cross-border strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, triggering war in the Gaza Strip.
Israel said earlier this month that it was shifting its focus from Gaza to securing its northern border with Lebanon, in order to allow Israelis displaced since October to return to their homes.
Hezbollah vowed on Monday to keep fighting Israel and said it was ready to face any ground operation into Lebanon, after its leader was killed in an air strike that dealt the group a seismic blow.
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