A general view shows the destruction in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam. AFP
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend the ceasefire in Israel's war on the country by three weeks; however, Israeli bombing has not halted during either the initial truce or the current extension.
"The Israeli enemy's airstrikes on southern Lebanon today, April 24, resulted in the martyrdom of six citizens and the injury of two others," the ministry said in a statement.
Israel killed two people in Wadi al-Hujair, two were killed in Touline, and one each in Srifa and Yater, all in southern Lebanon, the ministry said.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, also announced on Friday that an Indonesian blue helmet died in hospital of wounds suffered on March 29 in an attack on his base.
UNIFIL said at the time of the March 29 attack that one Indonesian soldier was killed and another wounded.
A preliminary investigation by the UN found that the soldier was killed by an Israeli tank shell.
Israeli attacks have killed 2,491 people in Lebanon and wounded 7,719 others since 2 March, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
Global health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have warned that these casualties -- which include hundreds of children -- have placed a catastrophic strain on the nation's medical system.
The Israeli bombing has also triggered a massive humanitarian crisis, displacing over one million people -- roughly one in five Lebanese -- as Israel imposes a "Yellow Line," cementing its occupation of Lebanese territory in the south.
By destroying critical bridges and roads, the Israeli occupation military has severed territory south of the Litani River from the rest of the country, establishing a de facto occupation similar to the one it has imposed in its genocidal war on Gaza.
Lawmaker Ali Fayyad, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, characterized the occupation and continued Israeli "field actions", including assassinations, shelling, and village demolitions, as proof that the ceasefire is meaningless.
The Lebanese resistance movement, which has asserted its right to retaliate to Israeli violations, has not participated in the diplomacy brokered by Washington, labeling direct talks between Beirut and Tel Aviv as a "free concession" and a "deceptive ploy".
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
Short link: