Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed seven people, including a commander from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement and two children, according to Lebanese authorities and state media. The attacks came on Sunday despite an already fragile ceasefire, as tensions continued to escalate along the border.
Lebanon’s health ministry issued a preliminary toll, saying three people were killed in the town of Tayr Felsay, including a child, while two others, also including a child, were killed in Tayr Debba. It said 11 people were injured in those strikes, with a further four wounded in separate attacks on two other towns in southern Lebanon.
Later, the state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike around midnight hit an apartment on the outskirts of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon. The attack killed Islamic Jihad commander Wael Abdel Halim and his 17-year-old daughter.
The Israeli military continued to carry out operations across southern Lebanon, issuing repeated evacuation warnings to towns and villages. Two strikes also hit Sohmor in the Bekaa Valley, according to Lebanese state media.
The Israeli army later issued fresh evacuation orders for four villages near the southern coastal city of Sidon, extending warnings that had already been issued a day earlier. Airstrikes subsequently hit three of those villages, the National News Agency said.
At the start of a cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “holding territory, clearing territory, protecting Israel’s communities, but also fighting an enemy that is trying to outsmart us”. He added that Israel was “facing the challenge of neutralising FPV (First-Person view) drones”, which he said were increasingly being used by Hezbollah to target Israeli forces.
The latest escalation follows renewed diplomatic activity, including a third round of talks in Washington involving Israeli and Lebanese envoys, which agreed to extend the ceasefire arrangement. Hezbollah, however, has strongly criticised the negotiations.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Hajj Hassan said the US-brokered talks had led Lebanon down what he described as a “dead-end path”. He warned that they would lead to “one concession after another” and said authorities were creating “very big predicaments” for the country.
In a separate statement, Hezbollah rejected proposals for a US-facilitated security mechanism, describing them as further “free concessions” made by the Lebanese government to Israel.
The group also said it had carried out an attack on a military target in northern Israel on Saturday and reported additional operations against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
Israel deployed ground forces into southern Lebanon during the latest conflict, and those troops continue to hold positions near the border area.
According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,900 people in Lebanon since the start of the war, including more than 400 since the ceasefire came into effect on 17 April.
