In brief
- At least 17 people have been killed by Israeli air and drone strikes in Lebanon, local authorities say.
- It marks another escalation since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect.
Israeli drone strikes targeting vehicles south of Beirut have resulted in the deaths of four individuals, while airstrikes in southern Lebanon have claimed at least 13 lives, including a man and his 12-year-old daughter, according to Lebanese officials.
This recent wave of attacks signifies a heightened conflict despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that was established on April 17. Both parties have continued their assaults, disregarding the truce.
On Saturday, local time, two drone strikes occurred on the highway connecting Beirut with Sidon, a southern port city, leaving several people injured. A third strike on a road leading to Lebanon’s Chouf region was reported by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), resulting in three fatalities.
The Lebanese health ministry reported that an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven individuals, including a child, and injured 15 others. These figures are preliminary, according to the ministry.
The NNA also documented further strikes in southern Lebanon, noting an attack on the village of Bourj Rahhal that killed three people, and another in Maifadoun that claimed one life.
Additionally, the ministry reported that three Israeli drone strikes in Nabatiyeh led to the death of a Syrian man and his 12-year-old daughter, who were traveling by motorcycle.
The ministry said that after the initial strike, the man and his daughter managed to move away from the site only to be attacked again by the drone instantly killing the man.
The girl then moved about 100m away and was hit again by the drone after she had already been wounded. The girl later died in a hospital, NNA said.
“The Ministry of Public Health denounces this barbaric targeting and the deliberate violence against civilians and children in Lebanon,” the ministry said in its statement added that the strike marks an ongoing series “of grave violations of International Humanitarian Law”.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired explosive drones into Israel near the border with Lebanon, adding that three soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, in one of the attacks. It claimed Hezbollah fired drones inside Lebanon one of which hit an Israeli vehicle without inflicting casualties.
Hezbollah claimed several attacks inside Lebanon, as well as firing a drone at an Israeli military post in the northern town of Misgav Am.
The latest war between Israel and Hezbollah began on 2 March, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the United States and Israel launched a war on Hezbollah’s main backer, Iran.
Israel has since carried out hundreds of airstrikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, capturing dozens of towns and villages along the border.
Later, Lebanon and Israel held their first direct talks in more than three decades. The two countries have formally been in a state of war since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
A new round of talks is scheduled to take place in Washington over two days starting next week.
A 10-day ceasefire declared in Washington went into effect on 17 April. The ceasefire was later extended by three weeks.
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