Israel kills at least 14 in S. Lebanon in deadliest day since truce

Summary

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed 14 people Sunday, the country’s Health Ministry said, marking the deadliest day since a cease-fire in the Israel-Hezbollah war took effect more than a week ago. It came as Israel and the Iran-backed group traded fresh accusations of breaching the fragile truce, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the military was "vigorously" targeting Hezbollah and the group vowing to keep responding to "violations." Israel's military has carried out repeated strikes in Lebanon since the April 17 cease-fire, which was extended for three weeks Thursday, after six weeks of war in which Israel also invaded the country's south. Israeli troops are operating inside an Israeli-announced "yellow line," which demarcates a ribbon of Lebanese territory around 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep along the length of the border, where residents have been warned not to return. Lebanon's Health Ministry said the dead Sunday included two women and two children, adding that 37 other people were wounded. Israeli strikes have killed at least 36 people since the truce began, according to an AFP tally of Health Ministry figures. Israel's military said Sunday that one of its soldiers was killed "during combat" in southern Lebanon and six were wounded, four of them severely. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes in multiple locations in the south Sunday, both in areas where Israel issued an evacuation warning and elsewhere. Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondents reported heavy traffic heading north as people fled following the warning and intensified raids. "Hezbollah's violations are, in practice, dismantling the cease-fire," Netanyahu told his weekly cabinet meeting. Tehran-backed Hezbollah joined the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes. "We are acting vigorously in accordance with arrangements agreed with the United States and, incidentally, also with Lebanon," Netanyahu said. Under the truce, which came after a landmark meeting between Israeli and Lebanese officials that angered Hezbollah, Israel reserves the right to respond to "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks." "This means freedom of action not only to respond to attacks ... but also to pre-empt immediate threats and even emerging threats," Netanyahu said. Hezbollah said that Israel's "continued cease-fire violations ... and above all its continued occupation of Lebanese territory and violations of its sovereignty will be met with a response." It said its fighters targeted Israeli troops and positions in South Lebanon in response to cease-fire violations and attacks on Lebanese villages. Israel's military issued evacuation orders for residents of seven towns and villages in the south Sunday. Shortly afterward, the NNA said Israeli warplanes struck in Kfar Tibnit, causing casualties, while a raid on Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, another of the flagged villages, destroyed a mosque and another religious building. The NNA also reported Israeli shelling in several border villages. AFP correspondents saw clouds of grey smoke rise over Nabatieh al-Fawqa and several other locations after Israeli strikes. Israel's military said it had struck "rocket-launching ... cells and weapons storage facilities" after earlier conducting "artillery and aerial strikes targeting terrorists and military infrastructure sites" used by Hezbollah north of the so-called "yellow line." Shortly after Netanyahu's remarks, the military said it had intercepted three drones heading for Israeli territory. Lebanon's Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,500 people and wounded over 7,700 others since the war erupted. The United Nations' UNIFIL peacekeeping force said it held a memorial in Beirut for an Indonesian peacekeeper, who died Friday after being wounded in a blast in south Lebanon last month. A preliminary U.N. investigation found that an Israeli tank shell caused the explosion.