Death toll rises in southern Lebanon
The towns of Deir ez-Zahrani and Ansar in southern Lebanon were targeted by Israeli airstrikes despite the ceasefire. Eleven people were killed in the strikes.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said it learned after the strikes that civilians were present in the area. The office acknowledged in its statement that civilians had been killed in southern Lebanon, while claiming that the Israeli army learned only after the strike that Hezbollah had placed civilians in the targeted area.
Statements by the parties on the strikes
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office alleged that Hezbollah violated the ceasefire by attacking Israeli soldiers taking part in the occupation of southern Lebanon. According to the statement, three Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded in the attack.
The Israeli army also said that airstrikes were carried out in response to the attack. The army claimed that Ali Samir Hasan, one of the commanders of Hezbollah’s Radwan units, was targeted and that members of Hasan’s family were also harmed in the strike because he used them as human shields.
Hezbollah, in a written statement, condemned the Israeli army’s airstrikes in southern Lebanon despite the ceasefire, which killed civilians.
Strikes continue after the ceasefire
The Israeli army began intense airstrikes on Lebanon on March 2. During this period, many towns in the country’s south were occupied and more than 1 million people were displaced.
The ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which took effect on April 17, was later extended several times. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that 4,335 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2.
