Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon kills 7 people, Lebanese state media say

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon killed seven people early Saturday, one of the deadliest attacks since a precarious truce between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on June 20.

State-run National News Agency said the airstrike targeted a home on the edge of the village of Ansar and that paramedics were still searching through the rubble.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry later said the seven killed included three children and two women. The ministry added that two people were wounded in the airstrike on Ansar after state media earlier reported that three people were wounded.

Israel and the Lebanese government announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon, in exchange for the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. It also envisions steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the two countries — which technically remain in a state of war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment.

Hezbollah has refused direct talks and wasn’t party to the deal.

Intense Israeli airstrikes early Saturday also hit the strategic Ali Taher hill, which overlooks parts of the southern city of Nabatiyeh and main roads leading to it, NNA reported. Despite the truce, Israel’s military has continued its almost daily attacks on the area, which is north of the Litani River and has been a de facto boundary in Lebanon, with large areas to the south under Israeli military control.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the areas of Ali Taher and Ansar in response to an action against Israeli soldiers in the area.

The military added that it will not allow the Hezbollah to harm Israeli civilians or soldiers “and will continue to operate to remove threats.”

A Hezbollah official did not immediately respond when asked for comment on whether they carried out any attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Earlier this month, two Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion in southern Lebanon, the first Israeli deaths since the shaky truce. Hezbollah did not comment on the blast.

Lebanon and Israel have held seven rounds of talks; the most recent took place in Rome earlier this month.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah has refused to disarm and accused the Lebanese government of making too many concessions without guaranteeing an Israeli withdrawal.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets across the border two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks on Iran. More than 4,000 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since then, including hundreds of civilians. About 40 soldiers and three civilians — including a military contractor — have been killed on the Israeli side.

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Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Israel.

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