An-Nahar says more than twenty hit around Nabatieh, IRNA says one killed and two wounded

The toll. Three of ten reports on the same day carry a number, and the three numbers do not count the same thing.

Only IRNA splits the dead from the wounded. An-Nahar's twenty-plus is one figure covering both, so nobody reading it can tell how many died. No report we hold names a single person hit.

Beirut argues about the weapons instead. President Joseph Aoun told a security meeting that a security vacuum in the south "is a pretext for attacks", and tied policing Nabatieh to Lebanon's negotiating position with Israel. Samir Geagea told Al-Modon to "dismantle all of Hezbollah's military structures". Sheikh Ali al-Khatib asked the US ambassador why Iranian support for the resistance is forbidden and American support for Israel permitted.

Not settled. How many died, and where. Whether the Kfar Roummane family of 12 were killed or wounded. Who any of them were. No report we hold quotes anyone in Nabatieh who was hit.

What this is about. Israel is striking south Lebanon again, and Lebanon's leaders are split over whether to disarm Hezbollah, the armed Shia movement that fights Israel from there.

How it got here. - 1982: Israel invaded Lebanon. Hezbollah was founded that year with Iranian backing to fight the occupation. - 2000: Israel withdrew from most of the south. Hezbollah kept its weapons, and it was the only Lebanese faction to do so after the civil war. - 2006: Israel and Hezbollah fought a war. UN Security Council Resolution 1701 ended it. It said only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be armed south of the Litani river. - 8 October 2023: The day after the Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hezbollah opened fire across the border and said it was acting in support of Gaza. - Autumn 2024: Israel escalated. It killed Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and sent ground troops into the south. - November 2024: The US and France brokered a ceasefire. Israeli troops stayed at positions inside Lebanon. - 2025: Joseph Aoun became president and Nawaf Salam became prime minister. Both promised that the state would hold all weapons.

Who is involved, and why. - Israel says it is acting against Hezbollah. - Hezbollah says its weapons exist because of Israeli occupation. - The Lebanese state wants a monopoly on arms. It has chosen to negotiate with Israel, according to Aoun's remarks carried by Al-Modon. - Iran arms and funds Hezbollah. Its foreign ministry condemned the strikes, Shargh reports. - The United States backs Israel and sponsors the talks, An-Nahar reports. - The UN keeps peacekeepers (UNIFIL) in the south. Its secretary-general has called on Israel to withdraw.

What is at stake. If Hezbollah disarms, the state could hold the south alone and press Israel to leave. If it does not, Aoun warns that the gap gives Israel a pretext. At stake too are the displaced southerners who, An-Nahar reports, cannot return home.

Where it stands. Parts of the south remain under Israeli occupation, the reports we hold say. The army is deploying in the villages Israel does not hold. On 9 September, Al-Modon reported that the negotiations did not look likely to resume soon.