https://arab.news/g2gv6
- Since Thursday, 13 Lebanese were killed in several Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon
BEIRUT: Two brothers were killed Monday in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, officials said, bringing the total toll from such attacks to 13 since Thursday.
Israel’s air force has stepped up bombings in recent days, saying that it is striking members of Iran-backed Hezbollah and its infrastructure, despite an ongoing truce in Lebanon reached in November 2024.
Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement that two brothers were killed in the Israeli strike on the village of Al-Bayyad in the Tyre district.
Lebanese official news agency ANI said the two were killed in an attack on a sawmill in Al-Bayyad.
Lebanese leaders have accused Israel of attempting to prevent reconstruction in the region, devastated by last year’s war, by targeting the machinery including diggers and bulldozers.
Three people were killed on Sunday in raids on southern and eastern Lebanon.
The Israeli army said it targeted an arms dealer working for Hezbollah and another man who was “aiding the group’s attempts to rebuild its capacity for military action.”
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem told the group’s Al-Manar channel in an interview broadcast Sunday that the group was “prepared to defend itself” if needed.
“The possibility of war exists but is uncertain, it depends on their calculations,” Qassem said in reference to Israel.
“We are ready for defense, but not for attack,” he added, stating that Hezbollah was upholding a ceasefire in force since last November.
Since Hezbollah was gravely weakened by last year’s fighting, the American government has been pressuring Lebanon to have the group surrender its arms to the country’s army.
American Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus arrived late Monday in Beirut, where she is scheduled to meet Lebanese leaders.
She will also attend a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism that brings together Lebanon, Israel, the US, France and the UN.