Two men – brothers – were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Monday, local officials said. Since Thursday, such attacks have claimed 13 victims, informs TASR according to an AFP report.
Israel in recent days intensified airstrikes in Lebanonsaying it is targeting members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, with which it waged war last year. It was suspended in November 2024 by a ceasefire, however Israel continues to attack neighboring Lebanon on a daily basis. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said in a statement that two brothers were killed in the attack on the village of Bajjád in the south of the country. According to the Lebanese Press Agency, they lost their lives in an attack on a sawmill in the aforementioned village.
Lebanese officials accuse Israel of trying to prevent the reconstruction of an area devastated by last year’s war. According to them, Israeli forces are also attacking construction machinery. On Sunday, Israeli attacks in southern and eastern Lebanon left three dead. The Israeli military says the targets of the attacks were arms smugglers working for Hezbollah and a man who was “contributing to the group’s efforts to rebuild its military capabilities.”
Hezbollah leader Naim Qasim said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the group is ready to defend itself if necessary. “The possibility of war exists, but it is uncertain, it depends on their calculations,” he said, referring to Israel. “We are ready to defend, but not to attack,” he stated. He declared that the militant group was observing a ceasefire.
Hezbollah is greatly weakened after the war with Israel, which was preceded by border clashes, and the US government is calling for its disarmament. Early Monday evening, the deputy US special envoy for the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, arrived in Beirut, where she will meet with Lebanese officials and participate in a meeting on the ceasefire monitoring mechanism.
