Israel violates another cease-fire, killing 5 in airstrike on southern Lebanon’s Beit Lif

By Yusuf Alioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Five people were killed and five injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the town of Beit Lif in southern Lebanon on Saturday evening.

This brings the number of casualties from Israeli violations of the cease-fire in Lebanon to 20 dead and 24 injured to date, according to an Anadolu tally based on data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health and the Lebanese News Agency.

An Israeli warplane carried out a raid targeting a house on the outskirts of Beit Lif in the Bint Jbeil district of Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

It added that the airstrike resulted in 5 deaths and 5 injuries.

Rescue teams "stopped working due to the lack of necessary equipment to lift the rubble," the agency noted.

In addition to this raid, the Israeli army on Saturday carried out demolitions of houses and buildings in the town of Khiam, resulting in "massive" explosions and plumes of smoke, according to the Lebanese agency.

With these three breaches, the total number of Israeli violations of the cease-fire since it took effect 10 days ago has risen to 158.

On Nov. 27, a cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon came into force in the hope of ending 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. It is, however, described as fragile, as nearly 150 Israeli violations were documented by Lebanon.

Under the cease-fire terms, Israel is required to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line—a de facto border—in phases, while the Lebanese army is to deploy in southern Lebanon within 60 days.

Implementation of the agreement is to be overseen by the US and France, but details on enforcement mechanisms remain unclear.

Over 4,000 people have been killed and more than 16,500 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon and over 1 million others have been displaced since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala