Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri on Friday, ordering residents to leave, Lebanese state media reported, the first such order issued since the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.
A senior Lebanese military official said Israel had recently added the town of Mansouri, where the Israeli military dropped evacuation leaflets on Friday, to its occupation zone. The official said Lebanese farmers had continued to enter and leave Mansouri, but had not been living there.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the military issued what it described as a “reminder” to the civilian population that “the area is within the security zone in which [Israel army] soldiers operate. It’s a reminder not to be in the area so they won’t be harmed.”
Israeli troops are enforcing the zone’s northern boundary by firing at anyone approaching it, including civilians and Lebanese soldiers.
In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran reasserted its “right” on Friday to control shipping and warned Gulf states against siding with the US, a day after an attack on a ship near Oman highlighted the fragility of a preliminary deal to end the Iran war.
Iran said it was responding to what it called an “interventionist, irresponsible and provocative” joint statement by the United States and six Gulf states that rejected Iran’s insistence that it could charge tolls on vessels transiting the strait.
“Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed under ambiguous arrangements, parallel routes or decision-making that does not take Iran’s role as a coastal state into account,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X.2
