Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah attacks continued across southern Lebanon on Monday despite the start of a 45-day extension of a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
The renewed truce extension followed a third round of U.S.-hosted negotiations in Washington aimed at containing the conflict, which intensified after wider regional tensions linked to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Lebanese officials said the extension officially began at midnight, but violence persisted across multiple areas in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the death toll since the war erupted on March 2 had risen to over 3,000 people, including women, children and healthcare workers.
Lebanese security sources said an Israeli strike near the eastern city of Baalbeck killed Wael Mahmoud Abd al-Halim, a commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group allied with Hezbollah, along with his daughter.
The Israeli military confirmed the strike, saying it had targeted the commander after taking steps to “mitigate the risk of harm to civilians”.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Israeli airstrikes on more than six locations in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military also said it had struck more than 30 Hezbollah sites in the previous 24 hours and issued warnings for residents in several southern villages to leave their homes ahead of planned military action.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee separately warned residents of Burj Shemali near Tyre to evacuate immediately, saying Israeli forces were preparing to “act forcefully” against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said it launched an explosive drone at an Iron Dome position in northern Israel and carried out additional attacks against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
Israeli authorities said projectiles and a drone crossed into Israeli territory during the attacks.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he would do the “impossible” to stop the war, stressing that Lebanon’s negotiating framework includes an Israeli withdrawal, a ceasefire, deployment of the Lebanese army along the border, the return of displaced civilians and economic assistance.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s foreign ministry condemned attacks targeting the UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant and other facilities, calling them “an extremely dangerous development affecting the security of nuclear facilities and the safety and stability of the region”.