A UNIFIL vehicle parked along the main road near the town of Naqoura, in southern Lebanon's Sour district, close to the border with Israel, on Oct. 27, 2022. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
BEIRUT — Two villages in southern Lebanon were attacked by the Israeli army on Tuesday, nearly three weeks into the cease-fire that called for a halt to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israeli gunfire targeted the coastal village of Naqoura in Sour district on Tuesday morning and Israeli tanks fired on Halta in the Hasbaya district, in the afternoon.
Residents said the gunfire in Naqoura swept across its outskirts and some of its neighborhoods. This comes as, just days earlier, the Israeli army had planted explosives and detonated homes in the village. Eyewitnesses described the constant sounds of Israeli army vehicles, raising suspicions of bulldozer operations in the area.
Later in the day, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a rapid car in the village of Majdal Zoun, in the Sour district. Residents reported that the driver managed to leap out of the vehicle before impact, but sustained injuries.
In Khiam, in Marjayoun district, search efforts continue toward retrieving victims who remain trapped under rubble. A Lebanese Civil Defense source confirmed that rescue operations are focused on the northern part of the village. The source did not provide a specific count of bodies recovered so far.
Last Thursday, the Israeli army announced its withdrawal from Khiam. In response, the Lebanese Army, in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), has re-entered the area. However, Israeli attacks in the area persisted after the army's withdrawal.
Teams from the Southern Council inspected the damage caused by the Israeli aggression in southern Lebanon, particularly in residential areas in the Sour district. According to the official National News Agency (NNA), 80 teams from the Southern Council have been operating in southern Lebanese villages from which the Israeli army has withdrawn since the first day the cease-fire took effect.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which began with cross-border clashes on Oct. 8, 2023, escalated into full-scale war in Lebanon on Sept. 23. A cease-fire agreement was reached on Nov. 27, but Israeli violations have persisted almost daily, totaling more than 100 incidents to date. Since the cease-fire came into effect, Israeli attacks have killed at least 34 people, according to L'Orient Today's count. Per the cease-fire agreement, a monitoring committee, chaired by a U.S. general, recently began its work.
On Tuesday afternoon, at the Council of Ministers meeting at the Grand Serail, caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makary declared that the "unacceptable" Israeli violations of the cease-fire agreement must stop, and that the monitoring committee would meet in Naqoura on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
Reporting contributed by our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah.
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