Israeli Airstrike Kills Lebanese Army General; Hezbollah Accused of Embedding With Troops

An Israeli airstrike hit a road between Nabatiyeh and Marjayoun in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning, killing three Lebanese soldiers including a brigadier general, the Lebanese army said. The army did not release the names of those killed. The strike occurred days after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect.

According to the New York Times, the Israeli military said it conducted the strike against what it described as a Hezbollah target on a military road used by the Iran-backed group. The Israeli military stated that Hezbollah had continued to operate from the area in violation of the truce terms.

The ceasefire was signed earlier in the week after intensive U.S.-brokered talks. Hezbollah had rejected an initial version of the truce and continued firing rockets into Israel after the agreement was announced, according to multiple reports citing Israeli officials.

Lebanon’s government has accused Hezbollah of dragging the country into war. Prior to the latest round of hostilities the Lebanese government had made efforts to disarm the group. Hezbollah has refused to abide by the truce, the reports said.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began, according to Lebanese authorities. The fighting has killed at least 29 Israeli soldiers and three civilians, Israeli officials said. Israeli attacks have displaced more than 1 million people, Lebanese officials reported. Israeli troops have seized around a fifth of southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese army has not commented on whether its troops were operating alongside Hezbollah fighters on the road at the time of the strike. No publicly released evidence has documented the precise activities of Hezbollah or Lebanese forces on that specific road segment immediately before the Israeli strike.