About two dozen people have reportedly been killed by Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, less than 24 hours after a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was announced, BBC reports.
Local officials said 16 people had been killed in the Nabatieh district and seven in neighbouring Saida, with others injured, after Israeli warplanes, drones, and artillery targeted several areas.
A family of four – a father, a mother and their two children – was killed in the town of Barish in southern Lebanon, state media reported.
The Israeli military said it had struck “dozens” of Hezbollah targets after the group fired over 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in the region.
The US government has criticised Israel’s ongoing operations in Lebanon, which was drawn into the US-Iran war when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader.
Washington also fears that the continuing tensions between Israel and Lebanon could undermine the US peace deal with Iran, which includes a commitment to end fighting on “all fronts” including Lebanon.
US envoy, Steve Witkoff, is reported to be heading to Switzerland for initial talks with Iran to help cement the agreement.
While it may have helped prevent a wider regional escalation for the time being, the deal leaves unresolved the central disputes at the heart of the conflict, including Israel’s military presence in southern Lebanon and the future of Hezbollah’s weapons.
A Hezbollah official told the BBC it does not recognise the ceasefire that was announced by US officials on Friday afternoon, and it rejects the Israeli objective to operate freely inside Lebanon.
Senior Hezbollah official Hassan Fadlallah said his group had the right to respond to Israeli attacks.
“What concerns us is that the enemy fully and comprehensively respects the ceasefire, and doesn’t attempt to attack our country and villages or seek to occupy any new position,” he said, as quoted in Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).
Նյութերը գեներացվում են տարբեր կայքերից արհեստական բանականության միջոցով