Israeli Airstrikes Kill 11 in Southern Lebanon, Officials Say
BEIRUT — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 11 people in southern Lebanon on Saturday, Lebanese officials said, making it one of the deadliest days since the fragile ceasefire framework was announced in June.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said seven people died in an Israeli strike on a house at the edge of Ansar, a village in the Nabatieh district. State media reported that the dead included three children and two women. The assault came around 4:30 a.m. local time, in an area where displaced families had taken shelter.
Hours later, a second round of strikes hit the nearby town of Deir al-Zahrani, killing four people and wounding five others, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Health. Video circulated on social media showed smoke filling village streets and sirens wailing.
The Israeli military said it had targeted 'Hezbollah terror infrastructure' in response to what it called an earlier action against its soldiers. It said the incident that prompted the strike on Ansar took place near the Ali al-Taher Ridge, a strategic high ground overlooking much of south-eastern Lebanon and one of the most contested positions in the conflict. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency also reported a series of strikes around the ridge and said Israeli forces had destroyed homes in Bint Jbeil and opened heavy machine gun fire toward houses near the border.
Salam rejected the Israeli justification. 'The seven civilians killed in Ansar were not military infrastructure,' he said in a statement. 'Israel must halt this escalation. For the security of our people and their right to life on their land are not subject to negotiation or bargaining.'
Lebanon was pulled into the broader conflict on March 2 after Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with an extensive bombing campaign and a ground invasion of the country's south, and its forces still occupy roughly 5 percent of Lebanese territory.
The June ceasefire framework, negotiated with US involvement, calls for Hezbollah to disarm, Israeli troops to withdraw gradually from southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese army to deploy throughout the area. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest strikes, calling them a 'clear message' to US-led negotiations and accusing Israel of repeated violations. Hezbollah, which did not sign onto the agreement, has refused direct negotiations.
Israel's military says it will keep targeting threats against its citizens and soldiers operating in the security zone, a roughly 10-kilometer-deep buffer inside southern Lebanon. While the scale of fighting has dropped since June, Israeli strikes and demolitions have continued. On Friday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem criticized Lebanese authorities for what he called ongoing pressure on the Lebanese army while Israel pressed its attacks. Lebanese and Israeli negotiators are expected to hold an eighth round of talks in September, though no date has been set.