Israeli air strikes on a village in southern Lebanon have killed at least 12 people, the Lebanese health ministry has reported, amidst an intensification of cross-border hostilities.
Eleven individuals, including two children and four women, were killed in a strike that destroyed a residential building in Kfar Roummane overnight. A second strike on a vehicle resulted in the death of a paramedic.
The Israeli military stated that it had struck infrastructure sites belonging to the Shia Muslim armed group Hezbollah, as well as "several terrorists" transferring weapons. The military described these actions as retaliation for a drone attack on troops in an occupied area of the country.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon have killed at least 27 people over the past three days. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the latest developments as a "dangerous escalation" that jeopardises the US-brokered ceasefire agreed in June, which was intended to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. President Aoun urged the international community to exert pressure on Israel to cease the attacks.
The Israeli military has intensified its strikes in southern Lebanon in recent days. These attacks have occurred in areas near the strip of territory occupied by Israeli troops, leading to significant numbers of residents once again fleeing their homes.
The latest attacks targeted Kfar Roummane, located in the Nabatieh district, just a few hundred metres from what the Israeli military refers to as its "security zone". The first air strike reportedly destroyed a three-storey residential building near the town's Shuyuiya roundabout shortly after midnight, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.
The Lebanese health ministry confirmed that, in addition to the 11 people killed in the residential building strike, eight were injured. Among the injured were three children and a paramedic from the Islamic Health Association, an emergency service linked to Hezbollah. The second strike, according to the ministry, hit a vehicle transporting paramedics from the Islamic Risala Scout Association, killing one and injuring two others. The Risala Scouts is an emergency service affiliated with the Amal movement, a Shia group allied with Hezbollah.
The health ministry further stated that the death toll "serves as further irrefutable evidence of the grave violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Israeli occupation, targeting medics and children."
Sara Moallaem, 35, a resident of Kfar Roummane, told the BBC that she had been asleep with her five children in their rental home when she heard the explosions. She immediately moved her children into the home's "safe room" until the sounds of booms and sirens subsided. Ms Moallaem stated that some of those killed in the strikes were distant relatives of her husband, insisting they were civilians with no affiliation to Hezbollah. She expressed her intention to move her family to the coastal city of Sidon for their safety.
"During the day, it is almost normal, [with] people going back and forth. But as it comes near the night, things escalate, and now my children are afraid and I am packing now for the sixth or seventh time. It is terrible," she explained. "Now that they are targeting civilians, I don't want to weep for my children."
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported striking "several Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites across southern Lebanon" overnight. This was in response to the group's fighters launching two explosive drones towards Israeli troops operating in the Ali al-Taher ridge area, located just south of Kfar Roummane and within the Israeli-declared "security zone". The IDF added, "Additionally, the IDF struck several terrorists who were identified transferring weapons in the area of Kfar Roummane, in order to remove the threat they posed to IDF soldiers." The military noted that "The claim that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strikes is being reviewed."
The IDF also stated that it had struck the Nabatieh area and killed several Hezbollah fighters on Sunday following a separate drone attack. Lebanon's health ministry reported 11 people killed in Israeli strikes across the south of the country on Sunday, including nine in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, south of Kfar Roummane, and two women in Arab Salim, to the north of the village.
There has been no immediate comment from Hezbollah regarding the latest strikes. However, on Sunday, one of the group's members of parliament, Ali Ammar, asserted that "the language of resistance is the only language that is effective against the Israeli enemy."
The ceasefire agreement between Lebanon, Israel, and the US calls for Hezbollah to disarm, Israeli forces to gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese army to deploy across the area. Hezbollah has rejected this framework, stating that provisions linking Israel's withdrawal to the group's disarmament cross "all red lines".
Lebanon became involved in the wider conflict on 2 March, when Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with a bombing campaign across Lebanon and an invasion of a significant portion of the country's south.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 4,362 people have been killed in Lebanon during the conflict, a figure that includes 395 women and 259 children but does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israeli authorities have reported 40 Israeli soldiers and four civilians killed during the same period.
