BEIRUT: At least seven people were killed in southern Lebanon on Sunday in a series of Israeli strikes, despite an existing ceasefire, according to local media reports.
An airstrike in the town of Safad al-Battikh left three people dead, while another near Tyre killed three more, the state-run National News Agency reported. A separate drone strike targeting a motorcycle claimed one additional life.
Earlier, the Lebanese health ministry said a strike in Arabsalim killed at least one person and injured three others, including a child. Another attack in Srifa wounded five people, among them four rescuers from the Islamic Health Committee, after the strike hit near one of their facilities.
“The ministry reiterates its condemnation of these repeated attacks and recalls what is included in Article 19 of the Geneva Convention regarding the need to verify that medical facilities are safe from any danger caused by attacks in conflict zones, while what is happening is exactly the opposite.”
Israel’s military said it had issued evacuation warnings ahead of strikes, though these reportedly covered more than 10 towns and villages, including areas beyond those it currently controls, such as parts of Nabatieh district north of the Litani River.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place between Israel and Lebanon since April 17, although the agreement allows Israel to act against “planned, imminent,” or ongoing threats. The Israeli military said it carried out operations targeting around 70 military structures and approximately 50 Hezbollah sites across southern Lebanon.
Separately, a Catholic charity condemned what it described as a “deliberate act of destruction against a place of worship” after a convent was damaged during Israeli operations. The Israeli military confirmed that a “religious building” and nearby homes in the village of Yaroun were damaged.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has recently begun deploying fibre-optic-controlled drones, which are largely resistant to electronic jamming.
The United States has called for direct peace talks between Lebanon and Israel, but Lebanese President Joseph Aoun insisted that Israel must fully implement the ceasefire before negotiations can proceed.
In a separate statement, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the group would resist the outcomes of any direct negotiations, stating: “these negotiations with all their results do not concern us, and we will not implement them”.
“We have a free people and a steadfast resistance capable of thwarting all the objectives of these negotiations, which increase the sharp division in the country between the factions of our people and within the state itself,” Fadlallah added.
