ISRAELI strikes on southern Lebanon have killed seven people in one morning, the deadliest toll in two months.
The strikes, reported by Lebanese state media, were launched at the outskirts of the village Ansar, killing seven and wounding three.
The country's National News Agency (NNA) said the strikes also destroyed a residential building.
In a statement, the NNA said Israel has "escalated its attacks on the south” in the early hours of Saturday morning, reporting that “a strike launched by enemy warplanes on a home” on the outskirts of the village of Ansar “killed seven people and wounded three others”.
Israel launched strikes at Lebanon in March, claiming to be targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, in an escalation of the Israel-US war in Iran.
Through airstrikes and incursions by Israeli armed forces into the south of the country, more than 4300 have been killed by Israeli fire.
Continued Israeli strikes have been a major issue in the ongoing US-Iran ceasefire negotiations.
A US-backed ceasefire was brokered between Israel and Hezbollah in April, but since its signing Israeli forces have continued to launch attacks into southern villages and towns, killing dozens of Lebanese people and occupying territory.
According to Lebanese officials, Israeli attacks on land and through airstrikes have killed more than 4300 people and displaced more than a million, roughly one fifth of the country's total population.
Since June, further guardrails were put into place to manage the conflict, but Israel has continued strikes and has destroyed homes in several villages.
Part of this framework mandates the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah. As this happens, the official Lebanese military is set to replace them.
However, Israel has refused to set out a timeframe for its withdrawal, and Hezbollah's chief Naim Qassem has criticised the plan to place the Lebanese military at the frontline.
“How can you accept this ongoing humiliation of the Lebanese army, exposing it to bombardment and Israeli pressures, instead of acting as its protectors?” Qassem told The Guardian.
Further uncertainty has been created as the United Nations' peacekeeping force currently stationed in Lebanon is set to see its mandate end later in 2026.
Human Rights Watch has urged for a renewal of the agreement, saying "the peacekeepers are a crucial deterrent against attacks on civilians and human rights abuses”, however no decision has been made.
