BEIRUT (AP) — On Saturday, three Israeli drone strikes on vehicles just south of Beirut resulted in the deaths of four individuals, while a series of airstrikes in southern Lebanon claimed at least 13 lives, including a father and his 12-year-old daughter, according to reports from state media and the Health Ministry.
The drone strikes south of Beirut represent a significant escalation in hostilities following a ceasefire established between Israel and Hezbollah on April 17. Despite the truce, both parties have continued to engage in daily confrontations, undermining the fragile peace effort.
In a noteworthy incident on Wednesday night, the Israeli air force executed an airstrike in a southern suburb, reportedly killing a senior Hezbollah military official. This marked the first Israeli strike near Beirut since the ceasefire took effect, indicating a resurgence of violence in the region.
Two of the drone strikes on Saturday targeted the highway connecting Beirut with Sidon, resulting in multiple injuries. The third strike occurred along a road leading to the Chouf region, taking three lives, as confirmed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA). An Associated Press journalist on site observed a deceased individual on the highway in Saadiyat, highlighting the immediate and tragic impact of the airstrikes.
The Health Ministry reported that an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven people, including a child, and injured 15 others. This figure was provided as an initial count, with further casualties likely as investigations continued. Additional strikes were reported in southern Lebanon, including one in the village of Bourj Rahhal which killed three individuals, and another in Maifadoun with one fatality.
Tragically, the Health Ministry reported that three Israeli drone strikes specifically targeted a Syrian man riding a motorcycle with his daughter in the city of Nabatiyeh. Following the initial strike, the man and his daughter were able to move away from the site, but they were targeted again by a drone. The man was killed instantly, and though the girl managed to distance herself about 100 meters away, she too was critically injured in a subsequent strike and died later at a hospital. The Ministry condemned the attack, labeling it a "barbaric targeting" of civilians and a gross violation of International Humanitarian Law.
In response to these events, the Israeli military reported that Hezbollah had launched explosive drones into Israel near the border, wounding three soldiers, one severely. Additionally, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for various attacks within Lebanon, including the targeting of Israeli military positions.
The renewed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah commenced on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, just days after a U.S.-Israel initiative aimed at countering Iran’s influence. Since then, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes and initiated a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, capturing numerous towns and villages along the border. This escalation led to the first direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in over three decades, with both countries maintaining a formal state of war since Israel's establishment in 1948.
Upcoming talks are scheduled to take place in Washington, beginning Thursday, while a 10-day ceasefire declared in Washington was initially put in place on April 17 and later extended by three weeks amid ongoing tensions.
In a related diplomatic gesture, Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus on Saturday, where they discussed enhancing bilateral relations and cooperation on security matters amidst the turbulent regional landscape. Salam emphasized that Lebanon would not become a platform to negatively impact "our Arab brothers, especially Syria," indirectly referencing Hezbollah's role in the Syrian civil conflict that began in 2011.
