Local residents walk past debris in front of an apartment building following an Israeli strike in Sidon. AFP
The ministry said the toll from the “strike launched by the Israeli enemy on the town of Zibqin rose to two dead”, as the Israeli military said it had targeted two alleged Hezbollah operatives in the area.
The attack is part of a string of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, in violation of a ceasefire agreement reached in late November that had largely ended over a year of hostilities and halted an Israeli invasion of the south.
The latest raid followed a visit by the US deputy special envoy for the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, who held talks with senior Lebanese officials on Saturday.
Ortagus, on her second visit to Lebanon, has not issued any official statements. However, the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, and the prime minister, Nawaf Salam, described the discussions as positive, saying they addressed the situation in southern Lebanon and economic reforms.
A Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media, said Ortagus discussed “intensifying and speeding up the work of the Lebanese army in dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, leading to restricting weapons to state hands, without setting a timetable”.
In a continuation of its ceasefire violations, Israel carried out a pre-dawn airstrike on Friday in the southern port city of Sidon, killing a Hamas commander along with his adult son and daughter. A day earlier, Israel claimed responsibility for a strike targeting a Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon.
Israeli attacks have escalated in recent days, including a strike on southern Beirut on Tuesday that killed a Hezbollah–Palestinian liaison officer. Lebanon’s health ministry reported four people killed in that raid, including a woman. It was the second Israeli strike on the capital since the ceasefire.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hezbollah was to redeploy its forces north of the Litani River – about 30km from the Israeli border – and dismantle military infrastructure in the south. In return, Israel was expected to withdraw its forces across the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border.
However, Israel has missed two withdrawal deadlines and continues to occupy five positions in southern Lebanon – a clear violation of the ceasefire.
Israeli airstrikes have also hit civilian areas, preventing many residents near the border from returning to their homes.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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