Lebanon condemns 'barbaric' Israeli attack amid ceasefire

Lebanon's health ministry has condemned a "barbaric" Israeli attack which targeted a man and a 12-year-old girl in the southern part of the country, despite the ceasefire agreement in effect since 17 April.

An Israeli strike on a motorbike in the town of Nabatieh outside areas under Israeli evacuation orders hit a Syrian national and his 12-year-old daughter, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The drone attacked the man and child a second time, killing the father, after they managed to move away from the site of the first strike, the ministry said.

The drone then targeted the girl directly for a third time, the ministry said, adding that she was undergoing life-saving surgery.

The health ministry condemned "deliberate violence against civilians and children" on the part of Israel.

Israel's military had called on residents of nine villages to evacuate, warning that it would act "forcefully" against Hezbollah after its "violation of the ceasefire agreement".

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes launched a strike on the town of Zrariyeh and several other areas included in the notice.

It reported casualties in a strike on a car on a road between two of the locations, and said Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling hit other areas of the south not mentioned in the warning.

Israeli forces and Hezbollah have traded fire daily, mostly in southern Lebanon, despite the ceasefire agreement.

Israel must expect response to attacks, Hezbollah says
Israeli troops are also operating inside an Israeli-announced "yellow line", running around 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanon along the border, where Lebanese have been warned not to return.

Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah warned of "a new phase, in which the resistance (Hezbollah) will not accept a return to pre-March 2".

Under the terms of the ceasefire released by Washington, Israel reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict on 2 March with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

"When it attacks our villages and suburbs, the enemy must expect a response, and this is what the resistance is doing," Mr Fadlallah said, alluding to an Israeli attack this week on Beirut's southern suburbs that it said targeted a Hezbollah commander.

Hezbollah said yesterday that it launched missiles and drones at military bases in Israel in retaliation for that attack and ongoing strikes in the south.

It also announced attacks on Israeli military targets inside Lebanon.

After a 2024 ceasefire that followed a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon, while the group refrained from firing back.

"Whatever the cost or the challenges, the resistance will not allow a return to the previous phase," Mr Fadlallah said.

He also said direct talks with Israel amounted to a "path of concessions", reiterating his party's call for the government to withdraw in favour of indirect talks.

Lebanese and Israeli representatives are set to hold a third round of direct talks in Washington next week.

The first meeting was held days before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in Lebanon, and the second round as he announced a three-week extension of the truce.

Earlier, Israel's military said it had struck more than 85 Hezbollah infrastructure sites "from the air and on the ground" in the past 24 hours, including weapon storage facilities and launchers.

It also claimed to have struck an underground Hezbollah weapons production site in east Lebanon's Bekaa valley, as well as militants who were "advancing terrorist activities against IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon".

EU official urges increased humanitarian access in south Lebanon
Meanwhile, European Union crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib urged increased humanitarian access in south Lebanon.

"Humanitarian aid is ready, but too often it cannot reach those who need it most," Ms Lahbib told a news conference on the second day of her visit to Lebanon, ahead of an expected EU aid delivery.

"South of the Litani River, access is still severely restricted due to evacuation orders and Israeli military activity.

And this includes 55 villages below the so-called yellow line," Lahbib said.

The Litani River runs around 30 kilometres from the border, an area where many of the attacks since the ceasefire have taken place.

She noted that key infrastructure including bridges over the Litani have been destroyed, "and that means longer routes, people waiting days and days for help".

Ms Lahbib said that since the start of the war, the European Union had announced some €100m in new humanitarian support for Lebanon and had sent six planes carrying aid, with a seventh due to arrive in the coming days.

Authorities say more than 2,750 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since 2 March, including at least 104 health and emergency workers, with Israeli strikes having killed dozens since the ceasefire in April.