An Israeli air strike has killed at least four people in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s Ministry of Public Health, in an attack that put more pressure on a nearly yearlong truce with Hezbollah.
In a statement on Saturday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said the Israeli attack in the town of Kfarsir in the Nabatieh district also wounded three.
The state-run Lebanon News Agency reported that the strike, which involved a “guided missile”, targeted a car at about 2:15pm (16:15 GMT).
The attack came a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of escalating strikes in response to his offer to negotiate a more lasting end to the cross-border attacks.
The conflict began in 2023 when Hezbollah began launching attacks on Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on southern Israel. After more than a year of fighting, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024.
Despite the truce, Israel has kept troops in five areas of southern Lebanon and has continued near-daily air raids, repeatedly violating the truce. Israel claims it is targeting Hezbollah, but civilians, first responders and journalists have also been killed.
According to the United Nations, Israeli forces have killed at least 111 civilians in Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect.
Aoun, who called for negotiations with Israel in mid-October, after United States President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire, said his proposed talks seek to “end the Israeli occupation”.
For its part, Israel has claimed Lebanon’s government has not upheld its side of the ceasefire by failing to constrain and disarm Hezbollah.
The armed group rejects the pressure for it to disarm.
In another sign of heightening tensions, Aoun earlier this week instructed Lebanon’s armed forces to confront any new Israeli incursion in the south.
The order came hours after Israeli soldiers entered the border town of Blida.
They stormed the town hall, killing municipal worker Ibrahim Salameh, who had been sleeping there, the state-owned National News Agency (NNA) said.
Israel’s military said the operation was meant to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, saying that soldiers had opened fire in response to an “immediate threat”.
They did not provide further details or evidence behind the killing.
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