Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill 4 despite ceasefire

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley killed four people on Wednesday, while the Israeli army said it struck Hezbollah targets in the south, after warning residents of a dozen towns to evacuate. Israel and Hezbollah have been trading accusations of violating the ceasefire agreement in force since April 17. Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for several operations targeting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, as well as attacks on northern Israel.
An Israeli air strike on the town of Zellaya, in the West Bekaa region, left at least four people dead, including two women and an elderly man, the Lebanese health ministry said. Lebanese state media said the attack struck the house of the town's mayor, killing him and three members of his family. The town was hit shortly before the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning that included Zellaya, along with 11 towns and villages in southern Lebanon, most of them north of the Litani River and outside the area occupied by Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli army later announced in a brief statement that it had 'begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites in several areas in Lebanon' and renewed its evacuation warning. Israel carried out air strikes and artillery bombardment on a number of towns, including several whose residents had been warned to evacuate. One of the strikes hit the town of Yohmor al-Shaqeef in the Nabatieh district.

Photos showed a cloud of smoke rising behind the town's historic Beaufort Castle, which Israeli forces used as a base during their two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon ending in 2000. State media reported a series of air strikes in the south, including a targeted strike on a car and 'significant damage' to homes and infrastructure. Hezbollah, for its part, announced in a series of statements that it had targeted Israeli forces and vehicles in a number of border towns in southern Lebanon. It said the attacks were in response to 'the Israeli enemy's violation of the ceasefire'.
Separately, US Secretary of ​State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that peace between Israel and Lebanon was achievable but that Hezbollah was a problem. 'By and large, I think a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel is imminently achievable, and should be,' ⁠Rubio told reporters at the White House. 'The problem with Israel ⁠and Lebanon is not Israel or Lebanon, it's Hezbollah,' he added.
Lebanon's government wants a permanent deal with US ally Israel that would end a repeated cycle of Israeli invasions and strikes, while stopping ​short of saying ⁠it wants a peace agreement. Israel says any deal ​must permanently disarm Hezbollah. 'What has ‌to happen in Lebanon, what everybody wants to see, is that you have a Lebanese ​government with the capability to go after Hezbollah and take Hezbollah apart,' Rubio said.
Israel intensified air attacks on Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, three days into the US-Israeli war on Iran. Israel, ‌thereafter, widened a ground invasion into Lebanon's south. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,700 people since March 2, including dozens since the April 17 ceasefire brokered by Washington between Israeli and Lebanese representatives. The Israeli military says it has also lost 17 soldiers and a civilian contractor in the fighting. — Agencies