Lebanese authorities accused Israel of breaking the calm on Saturday as air strikes killed at least 11 people in the south, the deadliest violence since the ceasefire brokered by Washington in June. The attacks drew swift condemnation from top officials and threatened to derail planned talks between the two sides.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said the dead, including several children, were killed in strikes across the southern district of Nabatieh. The National News Agency (NNA) reported that seven people died and three were wounded when Israeli warplanes destroyed a house on the outskirts of Ansar village. Four others were killed in a separate strike on Deir al-Zahrani.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Nabatieh, said the assault began after midnight and struck a family home, stoking fear in a community that had considered itself safe. “This is an area seen by people as safe, but an air attack has now hit,” he said. “There’s now this escalation, along with apparently more Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon. We are seeing many demolitions. They are erasing towns and villages in the south.” He added that villages near the border have been completely erased, including graveyards and historic monuments.
The Israeli military also hit the Ali al-Taher ridge, close to the UNESCO listed Beaufort Castle. Verified footage showed flames and smoke rising between Ali al-Taher hills and the Dabsha area, accompanied by explosions. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television said the blasts came from Israeli air raids, while the Nabatieh news channel reported strikes near Kfar Reman.
Explosions were reported in the southern towns of Bint Jbeil and Taybeh, and Israeli drones struck the outskirts of al-Mansouri. Artillery shelling was heard in Sarbin, Barashit, al-Mansouri and Wadi Zibqin. The area has seen an uptick in Israeli military activity in recent weeks following a lull after the June truce, with Israel saying the region holds strategic significance and serves as a base for Hezbollah infrastructure.
The attacks come as Lebanon and Israel observe two truce agreements mediated by US President Donald Trump’s administration, reached on June 4 and June 26. The June 4 ceasefire required a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of its fighters, while the June 26 framework did not explicitly call for Israeli withdrawal, tying it instead to Hezbollah’s disarmament. Both ceasefires, which Hezbollah opposed, followed an April truce that unravelled, and neither has prevented Israeli forces from expanding their control over Lebanese territory or carrying out deadly attacks. The latest escalation comes as the Lebanese government plans another round of negotiations with Israel next month.
The Israeli military said the attacks were a response to what it described as a Hezbollah action against Israeli soldiers at the Ali al-Taher ridge. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on X that Israeli forces struck “the Hezbollah terror headquarters which ordered the attack” and that “only later” did they learn “that Hezbollah deliberately put civilians in that military compound.”
Israel has repeatedly targeted civilians in Lebanon and during its genocidal war in Gaza, often claiming that armed groups operate from civilian areas. Such claims have usually been proved wrong.
The military also claimed it killed Abu Hassan Alaa, described as a senior commander in Hezbollah’s “Badder Unit”, and commander Ali Samir al-Haj Hassan. Hezbollah has not commented on the claims.
Ziad Abu Rish, an associate professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Bard College, told Al Jazeera that most observers believe Netanyahu wants to escalate strikes on Lebanon “to demonstrate an undeterred resolve” to occupy the country’s south and to “pummel” Hezbollah and Lebanese civilians. He said Saturday’s attacks follow “a pattern that has been in place since the so-called ceasefire” in which Israel is “allowed by the US” to attack Hezbollah and civilians “without any consequences.”
He noted that Israeli forces have killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon since March 2 and wounded more than 12,000. Around 90,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed, and roughly 600,000 people remain displaced. March 2 marked the start of the latest Israeli escalation, which began after Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for US and Israeli air strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“People’s lives have been broken,” Abu Rish said. “It is clear that the Israeli policy has been to collectively punish the Lebanese population and in particular Shia majority parts of Lebanon and south Lebanon as it wages a campaign not just against Hezbollah but against the Lebanese people.” He added that Israel’s actions in Lebanon should be viewed in the context of Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 1,200 people since an October “ceasefire.” “We saw that Israel was able to continue its genocide in Gaza with no consequences,” he said. “So people should really not be surprised to see that it is really able to carry out a campaign of effectively depopulating and making south Lebanon uninhabitable, as has been documented by numerous journalists and human rights organisations.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the continuing attacks, particularly in Nabatieh and surrounding areas, saying they repeatedly violate the ceasefire reached with the US and Israel. He said the attacks constitute “a clear message to the negotiation track” and to US efforts to implement the agreement, and accused Israel of violating international laws protecting civilians. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the attacks a matter of “utmost gravity” and said Israel must “halt” its escalation. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri described them as a “massacre” and a continuation of a “war aimed at extermination” in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah, in a statement, accused Netanyahu of seeking “to escalate the war in order to bolster his domestic political standing, serve his electoral goals and appease the far-right.” A general election in Israel is scheduled for October 27. The group also criticized Lebanese authorities, urging them to find ways to stop Israeli attacks rather than pursuing direct negotiations.
Randa Slim, the Middle East Program Director at the Stimson Center in Washington, told Al Jazeera that Lebanon has backed itself into a corner by agreeing to a poorly negotiated deal. “I don’t think they have much choice right now. They have locked themselves into these negotiations, and the cost of walking away from these negotiations is going to be much higher for the Lebanese than it is going to be for the Israelis, and that is exactly the position Israel wants them in,” she said. She added that excluding Hezbollah from the ceasefire talks was a mistake. “Hezbollah was not consulted and neither was the speaker of parliament, who has lately been speaking on behalf of Hezbollah.” She said Israel is “not going to withdraw” until Hezbollah disarms, while Hezbollah says it will not disarm until Israeli withdrawal.
The war between Israel and Hezbollah has been underway since March 2. Before that, Hezbollah had stuck to the terms of a November 2024 ceasefire despite near daily Israeli violations. That 2024 truce aimed to end a war that began in the aftermath of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which started in October 2023.
As part of the June 26 framework deal, Israel agreed to withdraw from large swaths of southern Lebanon after Hezbollah disarms and the Lebanese army moves in near the border. That has not happened. Negotiations have been held, with the seventh round in early August. Israel continues to occupy nearly one fifth of Lebanon and accuses Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire.
Doron Spielman, a spokesman for Netanyahu, told the AFP news agency that Saturday’s attacks should “jump-start” the talks, not do the opposite. “We believe in the agreement. We very much hope that the Lebanese armed forces are going to be able to step into the foray, and together we’re going to remove Hezbollah from the picture,” he said. A US State Department spokesperson told Al Jazeera that Hezbollah bears responsibility for the Israeli presence on Lebanese territory, describing the group as the main obstacle to Lebanon’s economic recovery. The official said the “pilot zone” programme, under which Israeli forces withdraw from certain areas and Lebanese soldiers move in, remains the only viable path to peace.
Abu Rish said the ceasefire has been “in name only” and held only from June 19 to 23, when Iran pushed for an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon as part of its memorandum of understanding with the US.
