Israeli air strikes kill 17 in southern Lebanon in major violation of ongoing ceasefire

At least 17 people have been killed and several others injured in Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon, marking new violations of an ongoing ceasefire, the state news agency NNA reported.

Four people were killed and three others injured in an attack that targeted the cemetery of Kafr Roummane town in Nabatieh.

Another three were killed in three separate drone strikes targeting two roads linking the Nabatieh and South governorates.

Separately, a strike targeting a house in the town of Arabsalim, Nabatieh killed a man and his wife, while another young man died from wounds sustained in an earlier attack on the same town.

In Western Bekaa district, five people were killed and several others injured in strikes targeting the town of Mashghara.

Two more were killed in a strike on the town of Kawthariyet El-Siyad in Sidon district.

Expanded military strikes

The attacks came hours after an Israeli aircraft dropped incendiary phosphorus munitions on the forests of the southern municipality of Qalila, igniting fires in citrus groves and agricultural lands, the agency said.

Since 2 March, Israel has carried out an expanded offensive in southern Lebanon, killing nearly 3,200 and wounding more than 9,600, according to Lebanese officials.

Despite a US-mediated ceasefire that has been in effect since 17 April, the Israeli army continues its daily attacks and home demolitions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he ordered the army to expand strikes across Lebanon.

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Source: TRT