7 dead in Lebanon by Israeli ‘ceasefire violations’

Published May 4, 2026 Updated May 4, 2026 07:23am
Smoke rises from the site of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah.—AFP
Smoke rises from the site of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah.—AFP

BEIRUT: Fresh Israeli attacks killed at least seven people in southern Lebanon on Sunday despite an ongoing ceasefire, Lebanese media reported, as Israel continued to attack the country despite ceasefire.

In an airstrike in the town of Safad al-Battikh, three people were killed while another airstrike near Tyre killed three others, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency said. Another person died when a drone struck a motorcycle.

Earlier in separate statements, the Lebanese health ministry said the strike on Arabsalim killed at least one person and wounded three, including a child, and another strike on Srifa wounded five people including four rescuers from the Islamic Health Committee, as the strike hit near one of their centres.

“The ministry reiterates its condemnation of these repeated attacks and recalls what is included in Article 19 of the Geneva Convention regarding the need to verify that medical facilities are safe from any danger caused by attacks in conflict zones, while what is happening is exactly the opposite.”

Israel’s military earlier claimed to have issued evacuation warnings. But the evacuation orders covered more than 10 villages and towns, bey­ond the area Israel occupies, including several in the district of Nabatieh that lies north of the Litani River.

Since April 17 a fragile ceasefire has been in place between Israel and Lebanon. However, the ceasefire text grants Israel the right to act against “planned, imminent” or ongoing attacks.

The Israeli military said it carried out strikes dismantling around “70 military structures and approximately 50 Hezbollah infrastructure sites” across southern Lebanon.

Israel damages convent

A Catholic charity condemned what it called the “deliberate act of destruction against a place of worship” after a convent was damaged by Israeli forces in Lebanon. The Israeli military confirmed a “religious building” was damaged by troops operating in the village of Yaroun and “houses located in a religious compound” were “damaged” during the Israeli operation.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has rece­ntly begun using drones controlled by fibre-optic cable, making them lar­­­­gely immune to electronic jamming, to conduct attacks.

The US has called for direct peace talks between Lebanon and Israel, but Lebanese President Joseph Aoun demanded Israel fully implement the ceasefire before any negotiations.

Separately, a Hezbollah lawmaker said on Sunday the group would be able to “thwart” the objectives of dire­­ct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel which divide Lebanese people.

Speaking at an event to honour killed Hezbollah fighters, Hassan Fadlallah said “these negotiations with all their results do not concern us, and we will not implement them”.

“We have a free people and a steadfast resistance capable of thwarting all the objectives of these negotiations, which increase the sharp division in the country between the factions of our people and within the state itself,” Fadlallah said.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2026

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