Israeli troops reach deepest point in Lebanon since Oct. 1 invasion, Lebanese media say

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since they invaded six weeks ago before pulling back Saturday after battles with Hezbollah militants, Lebanese state media reported.

The clashes and further Israeli bombardment came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the U.S. earlier this week on ending the war.

Israeli troops briefly captured a strategic hill in the southern village of Chamaa, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the border, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said Israeli troops blew up the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Chamaa as well as several homes, but that could not be immediately verified.

Israel's military did not respond to requests for comment but said in a statement that its troops continue “limited, localized” operations in southern Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold, and several other areas including the port city of Tyre. An airstrike on the northeastern village of Khraibeh killed a couple and their four children, the National News Agency said.

Shrapnel from a strike in Dahiyeh wounded a teenage girl in the head and she was in intensive care, a hospital official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about patients’ conditions.

Israel's military said it hit multiple sites used by Hezbollah.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel that the militants have said are in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

Israel's military said a synagogue was struck and two civilians hurt in a “heavy rocket barrage” by Hezbollah on Haifa, northern Israel's largest city. Police said they were lightly injured. Israel said Hezbollah fired more than 60 projectiles into Israel on Saturday. There was no immediate Hezbollah statement.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire — 80% of them in the past eight weeks — according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israel has said it wants to ensure that thousands of Israelis can return to their homes near the border with Lebanon.

Israel’s military said a soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon on Friday.

In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike Saturday evening on a U.N.-run school sheltering displaced people killed 10 and wounded 20, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. It said two missiles were fired at the Abu Assi School in the Shati refugee camp on the edge of Gaza City.

Israel's army said it was looking into the reported strike.

The war between Israel and Hamas began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.

The Health Ministry in Gaza has said at least 43,799 Palestinians have been killed in the war. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said more than half of those killed have been women and children.

The U.N. Security Council’s 10 elected members on Thursday circulated a draft resolution demanding “an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire” in Gaza. The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to whether the council adopts the resolution.

On Friday, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister apparently urged Iran to try and convince Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire deal with Israel, which would require the group to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border. The proposal is based on U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

A copy of the draft proposal presented by the U.S. was handed over to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has been negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah, according to a Lebanese official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the secret talks, said Berri is expected to give Lebanon’s response on Monday.

Another Lebanese politician said Hezbollah officials had received the draft and would express their opinion to Berri. The politician spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing talks.

Berri told the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the draft does not include any item that allows Israel to act in Lebanon if the deal is violated.

“We will not accept any infringement of our sovereignty,” Berri was quoted as saying.

He added that Lebanon does not accept the proposal to form a committee to supervise the agreement that includes members from Western countries. A U.N. peacekeeping force already operates near the border in Lebanon.

Berri said talks continue on that and other details, adding that “the atmosphere is positive but all relies on how things will end.”

Associated Press writers Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Smoke rises from a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smokes rise from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Chamaa, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises from a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Journalists film as smoke rises from a building hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rises from a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A Middle East Airlines airplane flies over Dahiyeh as smoke rises from Israeli an airstrike, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Flame and smoke rise after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An Israeli drone flies over Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A bomb, center, dropped from an Israeli airplane falls towards a building in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

The Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights added an offensive element to their blue line by acquiring defenseman Rasmus Andersson in a trade Sunday with the Calgary Flames.

In parting ways with a player eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, the Flames acquired veteran defenseman Zach Whitecloud, defensive prospect Abram Wiebe, a conditional first-round pick in the 2027 draft and a conditional second-rounder in 2028. The Flames also agreed to retain 50% of the remainder of Andersson’s salary in the final season of a six-year, $27.3 million contract.

It’s the latest aggressive move made by the Golden Knights after acquiring high-scoring forward Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade deal with Toronto this offseason.

The 29-year-old Andersson, selected to represent Sweden at the Milan Cortina Games next month, was regarded as one of the highly prized candidates on the trade market. He’s spent all 10 NHL seasons with Calgary since being selected by the Flames in the second round of the 2015 draft.

Andersson has reached at least 30 points in each of his past four seasons, and already reached the plateau this year 10 goals and 20 assists. Overall, Andersson has 57 goals and 261 points in 584 NHL games.

The puck-moving player joins a Vegas defensive group missing Alex Pietrangelo, who stepped away from hockey due to health issues last summer, and with Brayden McNabb missing nine games with an upper-body injury.

Andersson is reunited with defenseman Noah Hanifin, who spent five-plus seasons in Calgary, before being traded to Vegas in March 2024.

Vegas has won seven straight, and coming off a 7-2 win over Nashville on Saturday night.

Whitecloud has two years left on a six-year, $16.5 million contract, and was one of the few remaining holdovers from the Golden Knights expansion season-roster in 2017-18. The 28-year-old was an undrafted free agent, has 23 goals and 78 points in 368 career games and won a Stanley Cup in 2023.

The Flames have won just three of eight, and sit 13th in the Western Conference standings, five points out of wild-card contention.

AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson contributed from Las Vegas.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) tangles with Boston Bruins center Alex Steeves (21) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Winnipeg Jets' Gabriel Vilardi (13) looks to make a pass as Vegas Golden Knights' Zach Whitecloud (2) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) handles the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)