An Israeli air strike killed seven people and wounded three others in a house on the outskirts of Ansar in Lebanon’s Nabatieh district early on Saturday, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported. The building was destroyed.
Emergency teams from the Islamic Message Scout Association, the Islamic Health Authority and Lebanon’s Civil Defence were removing rubble and transferring the dead and wounded to hospitals in Nabatieh, according to the agency.
Attacks reported across southern Lebanon
The strike was reported as the deadliest Israeli attack in Lebanon since agreements reached in June significantly reduced hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Violence has declined since a United States-Iran memorandum of understanding in June and a subsequent US-sponsored framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel, but attacks and demolitions in the south have continued.
The National News Agency said Israeli forces carried out air strikes on the Ali al-Taher Ridge near Nabatieh al-Fawqa. Other strikes hit areas near the teachers’ training centre and the Husseini club in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, as well as the valley between Ansar and Zarariyeh.
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- Several homes were destroyed in Bint Jbeil, near the border.
- Heavy machine-gun fire was reported towards homes along the Kounine-Saf al-Hawa road.
- An air attack hit the al-Mashaa neighbourhood in al-Mansouri shortly before midnight.
What the June framework requires
The framework agreement calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon.
The strike in the valley between Ansar and Zarariyeh was described by the National News Agency as the first to reach that far into southern Lebanon since the ceasefire two months earlier.
Political pressure over implementation
On Friday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem criticised Lebanon’s authorities over implementation of the framework. He accused them of pressuring the Lebanese army while Israeli attacks continued and questioned why the army was being exposed to bombardment and Israeli pressure instead of being protected.
More context: What comes after UNIFIL in southern Lebanon?.
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