Lebanon accuses Israel of targeting state institutions

Shafaq News- Beirut

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of expanding its attacks to include Lebanese state institutions after an Israeli strike damaged a Finance Ministry building in the southern city of Nabatieh at dawn.

Aoun urged the United States and the international community to stop the violations and hold those responsible to account, and said Lebanon remained committed to protecting its sovereignty and the stability of its south despite the attacks.

دان رئيس الجمهورية العماد جوزاف عون تجدد الاعتداءات الإسرائيلية على مدينة النبطية وبلداتها، والتي أسفرت عن سقوط ضحايا أبرياء وإلحاق أضرار جسيمة بمبنى وزارة المالية فيها، وتدمير مستشفى غندور ، مؤكداً أن هذا الاستهداف يشكل تصعيداً خطيراً يتجاوز حدود الخروقات المتكررة لاتفاق وقف…

— Lebanese Presidency (@LBpresidency) September 6, 2026

He called the strike a violation of both the cessation-of-hostilities arrangement and the US-mediated framework agreement reached in June, which provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in return for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group and political movement.

Lebanon's Finance Ministry said the building was damaged by Israeli shelling before dawn. Finance Minister Yassin Jaber ordered the Directorate General of Finance to safeguard official files and documents and to keep the ministry's services running, its media office said.

The strike came ahead of a new round of US-sponsored talks between Lebanon and Israel. A State Department official said the political track would reconvene in Rome, while Lebanese political sources cited by local media said the talks could be held on Sept. 15-16, though no final date has been set.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday announced that Israeli forces had taken "complete control" of Ali Al-Taher Hill in the Nabatieh district and would remain in Israel's self-declared security zone until Hezbollah was disarmed.

The hill, about 600 meters high, overlooks Nabatieh, Iqlim Al-Tuffah and Jabal Al-Rayhan, commanding a wide stretch of southern Lebanon. Israel has described it as a fortified Hezbollah position.

Israeli strikes on Sunday also killed four people and wounded 20, Lebanon's Health Ministry said, adding that Ghandour Hospital in Nabatieh Al-Fawqa was destroyed in the attacks.

Israeli operations in southern Lebanon have continued despite the ceasefire reached in November 2024. A Lebanese army officer told CNN that the military had recorded more than 5,000 Israeli attacks in the south since the framework agreement.

Read more: South Lebanon framework: What we know so far

Since the current war began on March 2, Israeli attacks have killed 4,354 people and wounded 12,325 as of Sept. 2, according to the Health Ministry. It put the overall toll since Oct. 8, 2023, at 8,921 killed and 30,561 wounded.

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