Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people and wounded 13 others in southern Lebanon early Monday as fighting with Hezbollah intensified despite a U.S.-brokered truce reached more than two months ago.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least nine people and wounded 13 others early Monday, including women and children, as hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah intensified despite a ceasefire agreement reached more than two months ago.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said one strike hit a building in the village of Kfar Rumman, killing eight people, including a child and two women. Eleven others were wounded in that attack, including four children and two women.
A second strike targeted a vehicle in the village, killing a paramedic with the Lebanese Islamic Risala Scout Association and injuring two other people, according to the ministry.
Residents described escalating fear after repeated attacks around the community were followed by a strike inside the town itself.
“We have been living in constant anxiety amid shelling on the outskirts,” Kfar Rumman resident Fouad Chakaron said while standing near the destroyed building. “Now they struck the heart of the town.”
Saleh Medlej, another resident, said families with children had been living inside the building that was destroyed.
“Are there missiles here?” Medlej asked while pointing toward the structure.
Despite the continuing attacks, he said he did not intend to leave.
“I will not leave this place,” Medlej said.
Earlier Monday, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for a residence in the village of Deir al-Zahrani. A building was struck shortly afterward.
The Israeli military said the attack was retaliation for a drone strike carried out by Hezbollah terrorists. No casualties from the Deir al-Zahrani strike were immediately reported.
Monday’s attacks followed another deadly day in southern Lebanon. Israeli strikes Sunday killed at least seven people and destroyed an empty hospital.
The renewed violence comes amid repeated violations of the U.S.-brokered truce between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has continued carrying out airstrikes inside Lebanon, while Hezbollah has launched drones against Israeli forces.
Tensions have also increased following an Israeli military announcement that its forces are in “operational control” of the strategically important Ali Taher hill. The position overlooks several villages and major roads leading toward the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh.
The latest exchanges have further complicated efforts to implement a separate U.S.-mediated framework agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel in June.
Under that arrangement, Israeli forces were expected to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah. Little progress has been made toward carrying out those terms.
Hezbollah is not participating in the Lebanon-Israel negotiations and has said it will not surrender its weapons in territory north of southern Lebanon’s Litani River.
Israeli officials have taken a broader position, saying Israeli forces will not withdraw unless Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon.
The disagreement has left both the security arrangement and the longer-term status of southern Lebanon unresolved while strikes and retaliatory attacks continue.
Kfar Rumman Mayor Abdullah Farhat condemned Monday’s attack and described the deaths in his village as “a massacre in every sense of the word.”
Farhat also criticized the framework agreement negotiated between Lebanon and Israel, arguing that residents of southern Lebanon have continued suffering despite the diplomatic deal.
Lebanese leaders “signed deals and we are paying the price here,” Farhat said.
“There is an enemy that is not concerned about anything,” he added, referring to Israeli strikes that have continued since the agreement was signed.
The latest casualties underscore the fragility of the truce as both sides continue military operations and remain divided over Hezbollah’s weapons and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
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