Lebanese and Israeli negotiators are meeting Thursday in Rome for a third and final day to discuss the implementation of a deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they are occupying in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament.

On Wednesday, Israel requested that the day's talks with Lebanon end three hours early, a source in the negotiations told AFP, saying the head of the Israeli delegation, U.S. ambassador Yechiel Leiter, had blamed alleged "misleading leaks" by the Lebanese side.

Rights groups said Thursday that an Israeli attack in south Lebanon that killed reporter Amal Khalil and wounded another journalist earlier this year was an apparent "war crime".

The attack took place in the village of Al-Tiri on April 22, days after a ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said it began striking targets in southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response to a "blatant violation of the ceasefire" by Iran-backed Hezbollah, just as Israel and Lebanon held talks in Rome.

"In response to a blatant violation of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the IDF has begun conducting precise strikes in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement, shortly after telling residents to evacuate a village in the area.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Wednesday that he held phone talks on the Iranian and Lebanese files with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.

Public Works and Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny and Defense Minister Michel Menassa on Wednesday made a field visit to southern Lebanon, including the towns of Qaqaaiyet al-Jisr and Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, to assess the extent of damage inflicted by Israel’s attacks on infrastructure, roads and bridges, and to follow up on the implementation steps aimed at repairing them to enable residents to return.

The atmosphere on the second day of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations in Rome was more positive than on the first, Baabda Palace sources told Al-Jadeed TV.

"The second day of negotiations saw three parallel and separate meetings at the political, military, and border levels. The Lebanese delegation presented a comprehensive proposal on the border issue, supported by documents covering the period from the Armistice Line to the Blue Line and the current situation. This proposal received American praise as well-structured," the sources said.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in a bomb explosion inside a booby-trapped building in Majdalzoun in south Lebanon, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

The Israeli army accused Hezbollah of "violating the ceasefire agreement" and ordered the residents of al-Mansouri to evacuate ahead of strikes, the first such warning in several weeks.

The British Embassy Beirut has announced that applications for the UK Government’s flagship Chevening Scholarships program to study in the UK are now open.

Prospective candidates should submit their applications via chevening.org/apply by 6 October 2026. Lebanese citizens (and Palestinians residing in Lebanon) are eligible to apply under the Lebanon scheme in any subject area.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the greatest help to Israel was provided by Hezbollah after Sheikh Naim Qassem accused authorities of helping Israel.

Qassem had said on Tuesday in a televised address that direct talks between Lebanon and Israel would bring only "humiliation" for Lebanon, accusing Lebanese authorities of having "helped Israel instead of helping Lebanon's sovereignty" by continuing with negotiations that handed Israel "political gains".

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Tuesday posted an X message marking the sixth anniversary of the Beirut port explosion.