Those killed included a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker, and a male Syrian laborer, all of whom were returning after inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The attack is the latest in a pattern of Israeli violations of the 26 June US-mediated framework agreement between Tel Aviv and Beirut.
Overnight and into Monday morning, the Israeli occupation army carried out large-scale demolitions in Houla (Marjayoun district), Kfar Tibnit (Nabatieh district), and Haddatha (Bint Jbeil district), according to L’Orient Today. Additionally, two Israeli Merkava tanks and an armored bulldozer advanced from the vicinity of Haddatha Stadium into the centre of the town, further entrenching Israel's illegal occupation.
Hours later, the occupation targeted much of southern Lebanon via airstrikes and artillery shelling. Israel struck the Al-Hariq neighborhood between Kfar Tibnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa, shelled the outskirts of Qantara, and dropped stun grenades on Mansouri in the Tyre district. The NNA also reported intensive Israeli drone surveillance over villages surrounding Tyre, further terrorizing the local population.
Israeli attacks over the past week have killed at least 51 people, including the four civilians killed on Monday, according to a combined tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
Since Israel reignited its war on Lebanon on 2 March, it has killed at least 4,304 people, injured more than 12,203 others, and displaced over one million people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
While more than 640,000 displaced Lebanese have since returned home, hundreds of thousands of others remain displaced due to Israel’s destruction of entire villages, alleys, and homes, in addition to its ongoing occupation of swathes of the south.
The 14-point Washington agreement stipulates a phased withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Lebanon within 60 days; however, that is conditional on the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) disarming Hezbollah.
Much like the Gaza ceasefire and the previous Beirut ceasefires, Israel weaponized the momentary lull to escalate its attacks across Lebanon.
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, have repeatedly stated that Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon "until further notice," insisting that any withdrawal is contingent on Hezbollah's disarmament, a pretext for prolonging the occupation.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah remains engaged in fierce fighting with Israeli occupation troops in southern Lebanon, making Israel's continued military presence in the region both costly and unsustainable.
The resistance group has vowed to continue its attacks until Israel unconditionally withdraws from Lebanese territory, rejecting any framework that conditions withdrawal on its disarmament.
Lebanese officials allied with Hezbollah, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, have condemned the framework as sedition and warned that it risks igniting a civil war. They strongly oppose the provisions calling for the disarmament of non-state actors, a clear reference to Hezbollah, arguing that such terms undermine Lebanon's sovereignty and internal stability.
President Joseph Aoun, however, has defended the framework, insisting that it "does not legitimize the continuation of the Israeli occupation in Lebanon." While acknowledging the absence of a timetable for Israeli withdrawal, he described the document as a "framework formula" rather than a final agreement. He reiterated that the shared objective remains "to secure Israel's withdrawal."
In an official statement on Monday, Aoun stressed the need to pressure Israel to withdraw its forces, saying that “the persistence of the occupation undermines the legitimacy of the (Lebanese) state and prevents the army from deploying and laying the foundations for a just and lasting peace.”
The remarks follow Israel’s decision to freeze its promised withdrawal from two “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon, blocking the Lebanese military from taking control, according to an Israeli report that downplayed Tel Aviv's blatant breach of the newly signed truce, linking it to a “pending joint monitoring mechanism” between the Lebanese and Israeli militaries.
Meanwhile, Washington and Tehran have been engaged in parallel ceasefire talks, mediated by Doha and Islamabad, that include a proposed 60-day ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran and call for an end to the conflict on all fronts, including Lebanon.
Short link: