Israeli airstrikes kill 9, including 3 children, in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire

At least nine people, including three children, were killed and 11 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Saturday, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry and the National News Agency (NNA), Anadolu reports.

Seven people were killed, including two women and three children, and two others injured when Israeli warplanes struck a house on the outskirts of the town of Ansar, in the Nabatieh district, toward the nearby town of Zrariyeh, destroying the building, NNA reported, citing the ministry.

The attack on Ansar was the first Israeli airstrike to reach this geographical depth inside Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect two months ago, according to NNA.

Later, the Israeli army claimed in a statement that it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the Nabatieh and Ansar areas of southern Lebanon in response to an action by the group against Israeli soldiers operating on the Ali al-Taher hills.

Two more people were killed and nine others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Deir al-Zahrani in the Nabatieh district, according to a preliminary toll released by the Health Ministry.

Separately, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes targeting the Ali al-Taher hills on the outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, the agency reported.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the Israeli escalation in Nabatieh, Ansar, Deir al-Zahrani, and nearby villages since early Saturday was “extremely dangerous” and undermined efforts to consolidate stability in southern Lebanon.

“The seven victims of the Israeli strike on Ansar are not ‘military infrastructure,’ and the children and women killed in it are not military targets,” Salam said on US social media platform X.

He stressed that dealing with any military infrastructure on Lebanese territory, if it exists, is exclusively the responsibility of the Lebanese state through its army and legitimate institutions.

“Its existence does not give Israel the right to violate Lebanese territory or endanger civilians,” he said, calling on Israel to halt the escalation.

“The security of our people and their right to live on their land are not subject to negotiation or compromise,” he added.

Despite the signing of a framework agreement between Beirut and Tel Aviv on June 26 under US sponsorship, Israel continues its assault on Lebanon, which began on March 2 and has killed 4,335 people and injured 12,277 others.

The agreement provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army there, as well as the disarmament of armed groups, with reference to Hezbollah.

Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the previous war between 2023 and 2024, while during the current assault, it advanced more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into Lebanese territory