At least five people were killed after Israel launched fresh strikes on Southern Lebanon on Saturday, Lebanese state media reported, just hours after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group took effect
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli warplanes and drones carried out multiple strikes across the Nabatieh area overnight and into Saturday morning, destroying several residential buildings and homes.
Israeli artillery also shelled Nabatieh and its surrounding areas before dawn.
The attacks came despite Israel and Hezbollah agreeing to a ceasefire on Friday following a sharp escalation in hostilities.
The strikes come amid the announced ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. According to a U.S official, the truce was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Friday.
The reported deaths and strikes have raised immediate concerns about the stability of the newly brokered ceasefire, which was mediated with involvement from the United States and Qatar.
This latest violence occurred in one of the main areas of recent fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.
The ceasefire had been expected to bring an end to more than nine months of intense cross-border conflict that intensified dramatically in recent weeks.
Although the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced on Friday that it will continue military operations in southern Lebanon to neutralise immediate threats and respond to alleged ceasefire violations by Hezbollah, even as the fragile truce between the two sides remains in effect.
In a video statement, IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Israel cannot accept the recent Hezbollah attacks that killed four Israeli soldiers.
“These attacks by Hezbollah are violations of the ceasefire,” Defrin stated. “They prove that Hezbollah’s goals remain the same: to remain on Israel’s borders and to plan and carry out attacks on our civilians. This is not a reality we can accept.”
He added that the IDF would not wait for further escalation: “We will not wait for the next attack to reach our homes. We will continue to remove immediate threats, respond to Hezbollah’s violations, and do whatever is necessary to protect our civilians.”
Defrin emphasised that Hezbollah has carried out hundreds of explosive drone and rocket attacks in recent weeks, targeting both civilians and military personnel, describing them as clear breaches of the ceasefire agreement.
The latest tensions flared after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of four soldiers, including a tank battalion commander. In response, the Israeli military struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley.
Moments after the Israeli retaliation, a renewed ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hezbollah through mediation efforts involving the United States and Qatar, aimed at de-escalating the conflict.
