Israeli strikes kill nine in south Lebanon, state news reports

Beirut received grim news on Saturday as at least nine lives were lost in Israeli airstrikes targeting southern Lebanon. Seven individuals perished when warplanes struck a residence in the southern village of Ansar, with two more losing their lives during a separate attack on Deir El Zahrani. The overall casualty count from these assaults reached eleven.

These strikes mark among the gravest in recent weeks since Lebanon ratified a U.S.-brokered peace framework with Israel. The agreement stipulates that Israeli soldiers remain in occupied southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed and the Lebanese forces take control, terms that Hezbollah categorically rejects as a form of surrender.

Hezbollah's chief, Naim Qassem, denounced the framework as an Israeli mandate written in "Israeli ink" that Lebanon's authorities had acquiesced to. The Israeli military claimed it targeted Hezbollah's infrastructure around dusk in response to attacks on its troops, asserting that the seven casualties in Ansar were comprised of three children and two women, who were not military targets.

Lebanese leaders expressed their disapproval of the attacks, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stating that the "martyrs of the Israeli raid on the village of Ansar are not 'military infrastructure' and the women and children killed in it are not military targets." Israel's military had previously occupied a significant portion of southern Lebanon during a conflict with Hezbollah earlier this year following the group's aggression against Israel just two days into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Israel has maintained its presence to safeguard northern Israel from further assaults. Defense Minister Israel Katz stated during a visit to southern Lebanon on Thursday that Israel would not withdraw from areas under its control until Hezbollah is disarmed. The U.S. State Department expressed concern, stating that a permanent Israeli military presence there was inconsistent with the commitments made in the agreement with Lebanon's government. Since March 2, over 4,300 people have fallen victim to the recent wave of hostilities in Lebanon.