NABATIEH: Lebanese official media said fresh Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Saturday killed five people, despite a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah announced just a day earlier.
The state-run National News Agency reported Israeli airstrikes on more than a dozen locations after midnight and into the morning, many in and around the Nabatieh area. It also reported artillery shelling on Nabatieh city and its outskirts.
The NNA said three people were killed in airstrikes on the town of Arab Salim, one in Deir Zahrani, and another after “an enemy drone launched a strike on a motorbike” at the entrance of Dweir.
A US official had told the media on Friday that an immediate truce between Israel and Hezbollah had been brokered by US and Qatari mediators following talks with Israel and Iran.
The announcement came as Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed 47 people on Friday, the worst violence since Washington and Tehran sealed a deal to halt the wider Middle East war.
Under US pressure, Lebanon began direct talks with Israel in April aimed at ending hostilities. A fifth round of talks is due to begin on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israeli troops would stay in south Lebanon “as long as necessary”.
