Lebanon's Health Ministry: At least 11 people killed in Israeli attacks

At least 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon today, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, Reuters news agency reported.

The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah infrastructure overnight in what it said was a security zone in southern Lebanon, in response to actions against its soldiers.

Seven people were killed when Israeli warplanes hit a house in the southern village of Ansar, while four more people were killed in an attack on the village of Deir el Zahrani, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

19 people were injured in the attacks.

The attacks are among the deadliest in weeks since Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered peace framework with Israel. The deal calls for Israeli troops to remain in occupied southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed and the Lebanese army takes control, a move the Iran-backed group has dismissed as a capitulation.

The NNA reported several other airstrikes across southern Lebanon, including an attack on a strategic area north of the Litani River, known as Mount Ali al-Taher. One Israeli airstrike, targeting a valley near Ansar, was the deepest Israeli strike into Lebanese territory in two months.

The Hezbollah movement said in a statement that attacks on Lebanon "will receive the response they deserve."

Among the seven dead in Ansar were three children and two women, state media reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hezbollah in a statement on the X network of violating the ceasefire and attacking Israeli soldiers, injuring three people in the so-called security zone. The cabinet appeared to acknowledge that civilians were also hit, but accused Hezbollah of using them as human shields.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) responded by striking the Hezbollah terrorist headquarters that ordered the attack. Only later did the IDF learn that Hezbollah had deliberately placed civilians in that military compound," the statement said.

The Israeli military said it killed Ali Samir al-Hajj Hassan, commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan force, and other individuals in Ansar when it struck the "central headquarters of the Radwan unit."

"At the time of the attack, Hasan's family members were also with him inside the military headquarters and were reportedly killed in the attack," the statement added, emphasizing that the family was not targeted.

Lebanese officials condemned the attacks.

"The casualties in the Israeli attack on the village of Ansar are not 'military infrastructure', and the women and children who were killed are not military targets," Prime Minister Nawaf Salam wrote on the X network.

The Israeli military captured parts of southern Lebanon during the war with Hezbollah earlier this year, which began after the group opened fire on Israel two days after the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran. Israel has said it will keep its forces in the area to protect the north of the country from further attacks.

During a visit to southern Lebanon on Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would not withdraw from areas under its control until Hezbollah is disarmed. A U.S. State Department official said a permanent Israeli military presence in the area was inconsistent with obligations under an agreement with the Lebanese government.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement on the X network that the attacks represent a "clear message" directed at the negotiations and American efforts to implement the framework agreement.

At least 4.300 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest wave of conflict since March 2nd.