Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least nine people overnight, including a child and a woman, as Israeli strikes southern Lebanon with growing intensity near its self-declared security zone, the Lebanese health ministry says.
Eight people died when an air strike destroyed a three-storey residential building in the village of Kfar Remman, which sits only a few hundred metres from the strip of territory Israeli forces currently occupy. A second strike hit a vehicle carrying paramedics, killing one of them.
What happened in Kfar Remman
The first strike came shortly after midnight, hitting the building near the town’s Shuyuiya roundabout, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. The health ministry said 11 people were injured in that attack, among them four children, two women and a paramedic from the Islamic Health Association, an emergency service linked to Hezbollah.
The second strike targeted a vehicle from the Risala Scout Association, an emergency service affiliated with the Amal movement. One paramedic was killed and two others were injured, the ministry said.
An initial report from the National News Agency put the total death toll from both strikes at 11. The health ministry’s confirmed figure stood at nine.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. The Israeli foreign ministry accused Hezbollah of “repeated drone attacks” and “attempting to rebuild its military capabilities in southern Lebanon,” adding that the Iran-backed group had violated the ceasefire agreement.
Ceasefire under strain as Israeli strikes southern Lebanon continue
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the attacks amounted to a “dangerous escalation” that was jeopardising the ceasefire brokered by the United States in June, which was intended to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. He urged the international community to pressure Israel to halt the strikes.
The ceasefire framework carries specific obligations on all sides. According to the United States Department of State, the agreement is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector. The trilateral framework, agreed by Lebanon, Israel and the US, also calls for Israeli forces to withdraw gradually from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to deploy across the area.
On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed seven people across southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said it was retaliating for drone attacks by Hezbollah on troops in occupied areas of the country.
The pace of Israeli strikes has accelerated in recent days, with attacks concentrated in places close to the territory occupied by Israeli troops. Large numbers of residents have again been fleeing those areas.
Wider conflict and casualty toll
Lebanon was drawn into the wider regional war on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader. Israel responded with a bombing campaign across Lebanon and an invasion of a substantial part of the country’s south.
Reuters reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to “extract a very heavy price” from Hezbollah for the killing of Israeli soldiers during the conflict.
The Lebanese health ministry says at least 4,354 people have been killed in Lebanon during the conflict, including 394 women and 258 children. The ministry’s figures do not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israeli authorities say 40 Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed during the conflict.
The health ministry said the death toll in Kfar Remman “serves as further irrefutable evidence of the grave violations of international law committed by the Israeli occupation.”
