Two men died in southern Lebanon on Sunday while participating in the annual olive harvest, with one killed by Israeli fire and the other by an explosive remnant of war, according to state media and local officials. The incidents took place in the Bint Jbeil district near the Israeli-occupied zone along the border.
The official National News Agency reported that one man was killed in the town of Yater when Israeli shelling struck the outskirts as he inspected his land and olive harvest. The Lebanese army attributed the death to Israeli tank fire and described the ongoing attacks as a flagrant breach of existing agreements. Following the incident, the Yater municipality advised residents to avoid the outskirts of the town and not to cross the earthen barrier separating some unsafe neighborhoods due to the risk of further Israeli attacks.
In the nearby village of Froun, the National News Agency said a foreign object left from previous Israeli operations exploded and killed an engineer who was tending trees with others. The engineer, who lived in Beirut, had traveled south for the harvest, according to Froun mayor Hassan Bazzi. Local residents then suspended the harvest and decided to wait for the Lebanese army to finish decontaminating the village, Bazzi said.
South Lebanon has experienced two wars since 2023 between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, and Israeli forces continue to occupy a band of territory about 10 kilometers wide along the border. A framework agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel in June has reduced the level of violence but has not ended it. Israel has continued sporadic strikes and demolitions in and around the occupied area, while Hezbollah has declined to accept government plans for its disarmament. The framework involves Hezbollah’s disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal, and deployment of the Lebanese army to the region. Hezbollah had drawn Lebanon into the wider Middle East conflict in early March by attacking Israel in support of Iran, prompting an Israeli bombing campaign and ground invasion.
About eight kilometers from the sites of the deaths, in the village of Jibshit, volunteers from northern Lebanon arrived to assist local residents with the olive harvest in a gesture of solidarity. Organizer Ahmad Chahhal stated, “From north to south, one people and one land.” While workers collected olives, an AFP photographer observed drones overhead, heard fighter jets, and noted explosions in the distance.
