Israeli strike kills 13 security personnel in Lebanon
• Ceasefire talks loom as Lebanese death toll in war nears 1,900
• Air raid sirens wail across northern Israel amid fresh rocket barrage
• UN warns of looming food crisis as conflict sends prices soaring
BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh killed at least 13 State Security personnel on Friday, a source from the government agency said, as fierce cross-border fighting raged despite plans for ceasefire talks between the two countries.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said “enemy warplanes launched a series of heavy strikes” on Nabatiyeh. One of the strikes hit the State Security office in the vicinity of the government complex.
An AFP photographer at the site saw extensive damage and a fire still burning hours later.
The attack comes as the Lebanese government prepares for negotiations with Israel next week to end a war that has killed nearly 1,900 people in Lebanon since it began in early March.
Lebanon’s presidency said on Friday that a meeting would be held with Israel in Washington next week to discuss a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war and the start of negotiations between the neighbours.
The presidency confirmed that a first telephone call was held between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to Washington and the US ambassador to Lebanon, who was also in the American city.
“During the call, it was agreed to hold the first meeting next Tuesday at the State Department to discuss declaring a ceasefire and the start date for negotiations between Lebanon and Israel under US auspices,” the presidency statement said.
The government, which banned the military activities of Hezbollah at the start of the war, is moving toward the bilateral talks despite opposition from the group, which holds seats in the cabinet and parliament.
Naim Qassem, deputy head of Hezbollah, called on the Lebanese state to stop giving “free concessions” to Israel. He described Israel’s military campaign as a failure and vowed to continue fighting.
“The Israeli enemy has failed on the battlefield. … It has been unable to carry out the ground invasion it repeatedly announced,” Qassem said, adding that “the resistance will continue until the last breath”.
The Israeli military said Friday it had “dismantled” more than 4,300 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon since the start of the war and killed “more than 1,400” of the group’s fighters. On the Israeli side, 12 soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon since March 2, according to the military.
The Lebanese health ministry says more than 1,800 people, including 163 children, have been killed in the country since the conflict erupted.
The fighting has continued unabated despite a fragile US-Iran truce announced earlier in the week, which Israel and the United States say does not apply to Lebanon.
Air raid sirens were activated across northern Israel near the Lebanese border on Friday after Hezbollah fired around 30 projectiles, the Israeli military said.
Israeli emergency services reported a direct hit from a strike in Safed that damaged several vehicles. Additional impacts were reported in the Galilee region, including in Baana and Deir al-Assad, where a building was struck.
Hezbollah also claimed it targeted a naval base with missiles in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, far from the border.
Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Programme warned on Friday that Lebanon is facing a food security crisis as Israel’s offensive disrupts supply chains and drives up prices.
“What we’re witnessing is not just a displacement crisis, it is rapidly becoming a food security crisis,” said Allison Oman, the WFP’s country director, speaking via video link from Beirut.
Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2026
