Israeli airstrike kills shepherd in southern Lebanon amid an ongoing cease-fire

By Naim Berjawi

BEIRUT (AA) - A shepherd was killed on Tuesday by an Israeli drone strike in Hasbaiyya in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh Governorate.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said that the shepherd, Jamal Mohammad Saab, “was martyred in the town of Shebaa in the Hasbaiyya district due to a missile launched by an Israeli drone," without providing further details.

This raises the total number of casualties in Lebanon from Israeli violations of the cease-fire agreement reached last week to 14 killed and 13 injured, according to an Anadolu Agency tally based on data from the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The Israeli army committed eight violations of the cease-fire agreement with Hezbollah on Tuesday, bringing the total number of violations since the agreement came into effect last Wednesday to 117, according to a tally compiled by Anadolu based on announcements from the official Lebanon’s National News Agency as of 1610GMT.

The cease-fire deal between Lebanon and Israel took effect last week in the hope of ending over 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Under the cease-fire, Israel is to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line de facto border in a phased manner while the Lebanese army deploys its forces in southern Lebanon within a maximum of 60 days.

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

​​​​​​​Nearly 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