Salam calls for 'maximum pressure on Israel' following Saida strike

BEIRUT — Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the Israeli strike on central Saida that targeted a Hamas official in his home before dawn Friday morning, setting the fourth floor of an apartment building on fire and killing the man's two children.

“Israel is once again targeting peaceful civilians, this time in the capital of the South,” Salam's statement reads. “Targeting the city of Saida, or any other Lebanese region, is a blatant assault on Lebanese sovereignty and a clear violation of [U.N.] Resolution 1701 and the security arrangements agreement for the cessation of hostilities.”

Salam stressed the need to "exert maximum pressure on Israel to compel it to halt its ongoing attacks on various areas, particularly residential areas," and emphasized that a "complete cessation of military operations is necessary.”

U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus is set to arrive in Beirut late Friday for her second visit since taking office, following an extended stay in Israel, and has scheduled meetings with Lebanese officials on Saturday to discuss escalating tensions in the South and efforts to maintain the fragile cease-fire.

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Al-Qassam Brigades leader killed by Israeli army in Saida

Hamas released a statement shortly after the strike mourning the killing of a commander in its military wing, al-Qassam Brigades. Hassan Farhat, along with his son Hamza and daughter Junan, "were martyred in a treacherous Zionist airstrike that targeted their home in Saida, southern Lebanon, early this Friday morning," Hamas announced.

The Ministry of Health confirmed in an earlier statement that the strike, which blew open the apartment's walls and engulfed it in flames, killed three people.

This attack is the first reported Israeli strike in Saida since Feb. 17, when a drone strike killed senior Hamas commander Mohammad Chahine, according to the Israeli military's claims. Despite the cease-fire agreement in effect since Nov. 27, the Israeli army regularly attacks southern and eastern Lebanon, claiming to target perceived threats.