Israeli air strikes on a village in southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people overnight, including two children and two paramedics, Lebanese state media reported, in an escalation that threatens to unravel a fragile US-brokered ceasefire.
Nine people died in a single strike that destroyed a three-storey residential building in Kfar Rumman shortly after midnight. Two paramedics were killed in a second strike on a car. At least two others are missing. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
The attacks follow a wave of Israeli strikes over the weekend. On Sunday, at least seven people, including two women, were killed and six others wounded across southern Lebanon, Reuters reported, citing Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israel described those strikes as retaliation for Hezbollah drones fired at its forces in occupied areas. Al Jazeera reported that 20 people were wounded in air raids on the nearby town of Arab Salim.
The bloodshed is jeopardizing the ceasefire. The truce, brokered by the United States and agreed in June, was meant to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, but it has failed to yield a full halt in hostilities since taking effect in late June. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun warned that the attacks were a “dangerous escalation” and called on the United States and the international community to take immediate action to stop the violations and hold the perpetrators accountable, according to a statement.
Evacuation orders and military accusations
Before the Monday strikes, Israel’s military issued an evacuation order for residents of Deir al-Zahrani, a town in southern Lebanon. Military spokesperson Ella Waweya, in a social media post, called on residents inside a building marked on an accompanying map, and in adjacent structures, to “evacuate immediately” and move at least 300 meters away. She said the site was near a Hezbollah facility the army intended to target and warned that remaining in the area “puts you in danger.”
The Israeli military accused Hezbollah of a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement. It said an explosive drone had been launched toward its forces, causing the army “to act against it forcefully.” The military also said it struck a residential area in Deir al-Zahrani overnight, claiming a building near a Hezbollah facility was used to launch an explosive drone.
A truce under strain
Monday’s evacuation warning was only the third issued since the June ceasefire announcement, after the first on Aug. 5 and the second on Sunday. Violence has persisted in the region despite the ceasefire deal, with sporadic Israeli strikes and Hezbollah drone attacks continuing to test the agreement. Last month was the deadliest since the truce, with Israeli airstrikes killing at least 11 people and wounding 19 in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider regional war in March, when the Iran-backed Hezbollah formally joined the fighting, prompting Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion. Lebanon says the conflict has killed at least 4,300 people and wounded over 12,000 since March 2, according to CNBC. Al Jazeera cited a figure of nearly 9,000 killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 2023.
Reporting from Kfar Rumman on Monday, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said “uncertainty and fear” are the prevailing feelings in southern Lebanon. “Among the dead are children, including a two-month-old infant,” she said. “People just do not know what is next,” Khodr said, describing a wave of Israeli attacks over the past 48 hours in which civilians were killed and residential homes destroyed. She added that recovery efforts by civil defence workers were continuing throughout the night.
The violence persists amid a broader regional standoff. The war between Iran and the United States has stretched into its seventh month, with a preliminary ceasefire reached in June having collapsed and diplomatic efforts to revive talks stalled, CNBC reported. The Trump administration has been increasing its economic pressure campaign against the Islamic regime, while military hostilities have intensified. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, remained at a fraction of pre-war levels. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Sunday that Tehran will announce a “restricted zone” running from the US naval blockade line through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Persian Gulf. Rezaei said any ship entering the new zone would be added to a sanctions list. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that a nuclear agreement with Iran may no longer be achievable through negotiation. “There may not be a nuclear agreement. It may be simply destroying their capabilities to do it,” Wright said, adding that a deal “may await a next administration in Iran.”