New Israeli strikes reported in Lebanon after Netanyahu orders attacks

The Israeli army has accused Hezbollah militants of breaching the recently extended ceasefire between the two countries

Lebanese state media reported a series of new Israeli strikes in the country’s south on Saturday night, after attacks earlier in the day killed six people despite a recently extended ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The new attacks followed orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military to “forcefully attack Hezbollah targets” after the army accused it of breaching the truce.

Lebanon’s health ministry had said earlier that “Israeli enemy strikes on a truck and a motorbike in the town of Yohmor al-Shaqeef in the Nabatieh district killed four people”.

Another attack “on the town of Safad al-Battikh, in the Bint Jbeil district, resulted in two fatalities and 17 injuries”, it reported.

Israel’s military said it “eliminated” three Hezbollah operatives on Saturday who were driving “a vehicle loaded with weapons”, as well as another one riding a motorcycle, and two more armed members of the group elsewhere.

It also said it identified two projectiles launched from Lebanon, decrying “a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings” by Hezbollah, and later intercepted another “suspicious aerial target”.