Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, the latest casualties in Israel’s intensifying bombardment in recent days after capturing a strategic ridge that it has sought to control for months.
The strikes in the village of Kfar Roummane targeted a building and a vehicle, the Lebanese state news agency said. One child and two women were among those killed and at least 13 other people were injured, according to health officials. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment about the strikes.
The latest escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, began after Israel said on Friday that it had seized the ridge near the Lebanese city of Nabatieh, about six miles from the border.
The ridge, known as Ali al-Taher, had become a focal point in the conflict, which reignited in March when Hezbollah fired on Israel after the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Ali al-Taher sits above a sprawling underground Hezbollah base, and offers a commanding view across the valleys and roads of southeastern Lebanon.
The capture of the ridge and intensifying strikes have fueled fears that Israel intends to prolong its occupation of Lebanese territory and push deeper into the country.
The Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a video statement on Friday that the capture of Ali al-Taher marked “the completion of the process of consolidating our hold on the security zone in southern Lebanon,” referring to an Israeli-occupied strip of Lebanese territory along the border.
Israel has subsequently intensified its bombardment of the surrounding area.
Israeli officials have also issued evacuation warnings for two villages north of Nabatieh over the past two days, both of which are outside the swath of southern Lebanon that Israel has occupied since the latest war broke out. Israel has only issued one other evacuation warning since a U.S.-brokered cease-fire with Lebanon was announced in June.
The truce has frayed as fighting has continued between Hezbollah and Israel across southern Lebanon. Hezbollah was not involved in the cease-fire and does not answer to the Lebanese government, raising questions about how it would be enforced.
In recent days, the Israeli military said that it had launched the strikes in response to Hezbollah drone attacks on Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and on what it described as the group’s weapons storage facilities. On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed seven people, including two women, in south Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
On Saturday, Hezbollah condemned the escalating Israeli bombardment and said it was aimed at pressuring the Lebanese government — which has been engaged in U.S.-brokered talks with Israel — to capitulate to Israel’s demands.
The office of President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon said on Sunday that the new Israeli bombardment represented “a dangerous escalation.”
“President Aoun held the Israeli side fully responsible for this ongoing escalation, calling on the United States and the international community to take immediate action to stop these violations and hold the perpetrators accountable,” it said.
Sarah Chaayto and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
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