Israeli Strikes Kill 10 in Lebanon, Including Army General

At least 10 people, including senior military personnel, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, just days after the two countries reached a US-brokered conditional ceasefire agreement.

Lebanon's army said Saturday that two officers—a brigadier general and a captain—along with a soldier, died in an Israeli attack on a military vehicle on the Khardali-Nabatieh road.

The Israeli military issued a statement saying the strike occurred in an 'active combat zone' and that 'movement within the combat zone requires coordination' with the Israeli army. It added that 'the incident is under investigation.'

Following the attack on its soldiers, the Lebanese army declared that 'the continuation of deliberate and repeated brutal Israeli aggressions... aims to undermine all efforts to find a solution.'

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack, calling it 'a blatant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and of international law and norms.' Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also denounced the incident, describing it as 'an abhorrent crime and an assault on Lebanon and all Lebanese people.'

Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah labeled the attack an 'abhorrent crime' and accused the Lebanese government of exposing the country to bloodshed through 'complete surrender to the demands of the enemy in Washington.'

Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem, reporting from Beirut, noted that this was the first time a senior general had been killed since the conflict began on March 2. Previously, over 50 Lebanese soldiers and officers had died, but the government's response was seen as limited, only withdrawing troops from southern villages that Israel was advancing toward.

In a separate development, an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Saksakiyah in the Sidon district killed six people and wounded four. Another person died in an Israeli drone strike targeting a car on the highway in Deir al-Zahrani, Nabatieh district.

Israel also extended forced evacuation orders for the villages of Armati, Mashgara, Kafr Huna, Sajad, and Ansariya in southern Lebanon, compelling residents to move north of the Zahrani River. Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed its fighters attacked an Israeli Merkava tank at the newly established Blat outpost in the Bint Jbeil area using an Ababil drone, confirming a direct hit.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on April 17 but was never fully respected. Another conditional ceasefire was announced this week in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli envoys, but Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected it because it neither included Hezbollah nor demanded an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

According to the latest figures from Lebanon's Health Ministry, at least 3,558 people have been killed and 10,870 wounded in Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2.