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Lebanese PM Vows to Revitalize South Amid Israeli Attacks
Confirmed
In Short: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was demanding the creation of a demilitarized zone within Lebanon while being able to continue attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed on Friday to mobilize all available resources to secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory and rebuild southern Lebanon, as Israeli airstrikes and shelling continued across the region.
Speaking from Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon, Salam emphasized the importance of strengthening state institutions and their presence in the south, stating, “The guarantee is that we will continue to mobilize resources to secure Israel’s withdrawal and build a sovereign state.”
Salam also announced 23 tenders for development projects in the region, stressing the government’s commitment to revitalizing southern Lebanon. He said, “War is not our choice; it has been forced upon us.”
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes on Monday killed at least 12 people in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Rumman, including a paramedic, four women, and two children, according to the Health Ministry.
The military said the strikes were in response to Hezbollah militants launching explosive drones against soldiers in the area of the Ali Taher ridge. Israel’s military also reviewed claims that several uninvolved civilians were harmed in overnight strikes across southern Lebanon.
Rescue workers searched for victims under the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Kfar Rumman, Lebanon, on Monday, September 8, 2026.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that after an Israeli evacuation warning for a building identified as a Hezbollah “facility” in Arab Salim, “enemy warplanes launched a strike on another house, destroying it” and killing two women.
Lebanon’s authorities and the Israeli military described the same sequence differently, with Israel issuing its first “evacuation” notice in Lebanon in several weeks for residents near a building it identified as a Hezbollah “facility” in Arab Salim.
The United States, which is mediating talks between Lebanon and Israel, had wanted Hezbollah to hand over the Ali Taher hill to the Lebanese army, but Hezbollah refused.
Hezbollah has been targeting Israeli army installations in the vicinity, and the group officially rejected a ceasefire deal that had been provisionally agreed upon by Lebanon and Israel.
What this adds
The attacks and the subsequent rescue efforts highlight the ongoing conflict and the challenges faced by both Lebanon and Israel in establishing a lasting ceasefire.
What's confirmed
- Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon kill at least 12 Israel carried out airstrikes early Monday on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Rumman, killing at least 12 people, including a paramedic, four women and two children, the Health Ministry said.
What's still developing
- Israel described Hezbollah’s drone launch as a “blatant violation,” while the Daily Pioneer framed the attacks as occurring “despite an ongoing truce,” and it said Israel continued to operate inside a self-declared security zone extending about 10 km into Lebanese territory.
- The Jerusalem Post described the immediate trigger for strikes as Hezbollah launching a drone towards IDF soldiers, and it said the IDF struck Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure in Lebanon after the drone was shot down, adding that no IDF soldiers were injured.
- Attacks hit Nabatieh district towns Nabatieh, Arab Salim, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Kfar Reman.
- The agreement also called for a demilitarized zone in parts of southern Lebanon now occupied by Israeli forces, to be administered by the Lebanese national army, which is not involved in the conflict.
- UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping operation for Lebanon, announced Thursday that one of its peacekeepers, a soldier from Serbia, had been killed and others, from El Salvador and Spain, were wounded when mortars hit their position near Marjayoun in southeastern Lebanon late Wednesday.
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was demanding the creation of what it called a demilitarized zone within Lebanon while being able to continue attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
- The leader of the Iran-backed group — which was not part of the talks the day before in Washington — said in a statement the negotiations between Lebanon and Israel were "absurd, humiliating and insulting." The two countries had agreed to a ceasefire that stipulated that Hezbollah, but not Israel, stop attacks.
- Israeli attacks come a week after it said to have established operational control over the strategic ridge.