BEIRUT, Lebanon: An Israeli airstrike on a home in southern Lebanon killed at least seven people early Saturday, Lebanese state media reported, marking the deadliest attack since a series of agreements in June brought a sharp reduction in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
The National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli warplanes struck a house on the outskirts of Ansar village, killing seven people and wounding three others.
The strike destroyed the building, with emergency teams searching through the rubble and taking casualties to hospital.
Israeli Strikes Intensify
The NNA said Israel had “escalated its attacks on the south” in the early hours of Saturday.
It reported another strike in the valley between Ansar and Zarariyeh, describing it as the first attack at such a depth into southern Lebanon since the ceasefire two months ago.
Israeli warplanes also carried out several strikes around the Ali al-Taher ridge, a strategic elevation overlooking the Nabatieh area, while Israeli forces reportedly shelled the area.
The Lebanese agency also reported that Israeli forces detonated homes in the border town of Bint Jbeil.
The latest violence raises fresh fears that the fragile lull in fighting could collapse.
Fragile Calm Under Threat
Hezbollah became involved in the wider Middle East war in March by firing rockets at Israel in support of Iran.
Israel responded with extensive airstrikes and a ground offensive across parts of Lebanon. Lebanese authorities say more than 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict.
The intensity of the fighting fell sharply after a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June and a separate US-backed framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel later that month.
However, Lebanon has continued to report intermittent Israeli strikes, casualties and the destruction of civilian buildings across southern towns and villages.
The framework agreement calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the region, initially through designated “pilot zones”.
Calls To Keep UN Peacekeepers
Human Rights Watch this week urged the United Nations to maintain an international peacekeeping presence in Lebanon after the mandate of the existing force expires later this year.
The organisation said peacekeepers remained an important deterrent against attacks on civilians and human rights abuses.
The latest Israeli strike, and the scale of the casualties, underline the fragility of the current arrangements and the continuing risk of renewed escalation along the Israel-Lebanon frontier.
