Israel launched a series of intense airstrikes across Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least 39 people in the south, according to Lebanese authorities. The strikes, some of the heaviest since the three-week-old ceasefire with Hezbollah, also targeted a highway just south of Beirut, outside the group's traditional strongholds.
Hezbollah responded by launching drones into northern Israel, wounding several Israeli soldiers, including one reservist severely. The Israeli military confirmed that “several” explosive drones crossed into its territory.
Lebanon's health ministry reported that a strike in the town of Saksakiyeh killed seven people, including a girl, and wounded 15, among them three children. The Israeli military acknowledged the incident, saying it struck a structure used by Hezbollah terrorists and was reviewing reports of civilian harm.
In a separate attack in Nabatieh, a drone struck a Syrian national and his 12-year-old daughter. The father was killed, and the girl was hit in a third, targeted drone strike, according to the health ministry. She was undergoing life-saving surgery.
In Bedias, one person was killed and 13 wounded, including six children. The Israeli military had warned residents of nine villages to evacuate but said the fatal strike locations were not among them.
The strikes also hit the Saadiyat highway, about 20 kilometers south of Beirut, in an area not typically associated with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah warned of a “new phase,” stating the group would not accept a return to the situation before March 2, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel. He vowed retaliation for Israeli attacks on villages and suburbs.
Under the ceasefire brokered by Washington, Israel retains the right to act against imminent attacks. The Israeli military said it had struck over 85 Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the past 24 hours.
Nearly 2,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, including dozens since the ceasefire began.