AFP journalist Christina Assi, who lost a leg in an Israeli strike while reporting from the Lebanese border, will be honored at the International Press Freedom Awards, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

In October 2023, Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed and six others were wounded, including AFP journalists Assi and Dylan Collins, while covering the conflict near the Israeli border.

Israel reported on Thursday its first military fatalities in southern Lebanon in more than a month, after carrying out fresh strikes despite ongoing U.S.-backed talks in Rome aimed at ending hostilities.

The military identified the two reservists, who were killed in combat on Wednesday, as Major Harel Birenstock, 34, and Sergeant Major Tamir Vaknin, 33, of the 2855th Battalion, 55th Brigade.

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.

An Israeli military probe published Wednesday said that friendly fire may have killed an Israeli settler during a deadly clash with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank last month.

The violence in the Palestinian village of Tell in the northern West Bank in late July left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead, prompting the army to launch an investigation.

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".

For Cecile Roukoz, a lawyer whose brother died in the Beirut port explosion six years ago, accountability remains a priority.

Families of victims of the port blast gathered Tuesday on the sixth anniversary of the catastrophe, demanding answers and accountability in a country long plagued by official impunity.

More than 800,000 people displaced by war in Lebanon have begun returning to their hometowns following a lull in violence amid the Israel-Hezbollah war, the United Nations said.

The announcement late on Tuesday came as Lebanon and Israel began a new round of U.S.-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at ending the fighting, which are scheduled to run until Thursday.

The United States said it remains "fully committed" to support both Lebanon as Israel as they held a fresh round of U.S.-sponsored talks in Rome on Tuesday.

"The United States remains fully committed to supporting both governments as they carry this process forward in a manner that delivers lasting security for both countries, eliminates security threats to Israel, and restores Lebanese state authority throughout the south," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said on X.

Families of victims of the Beirut port explosion gathered on Tuesday demanding answers and accountability on the sixth anniversary of the catastrophe, in a country long plagued by official impunity.

"Until now, we haven't gotten justice. There has been no accountability and nobody has been arrested," said Hiyam al-Bikai from a rally at the port to commemorate victims of the disaster, including her son Ahmad.

Lebanon and Israel held a fresh round of U.S.-sponsored talks in Rome on Tuesday, with Beirut seeking Israel's phased withdrawal from the country's south.

Convoys carrying delegations from the two sides arrived in the morning to the U.S. embassy in the Italian capital, where discussions are scheduled to run until Thursday.