Israeli strikes in southern Lebanese village kill 12

Israeli air strikes on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Roummane killed at least 12 people, including eleven civilians—two children, four women and a paramedic—when a three‑storey residential building was destroyed overnight, and a second strike hit a vehicle carrying emergency responders. The Lebanese health ministry reported eight additional injuries, among them three children and a paramedic from the Islamic Health Association, an emergency service linked to Hezbollah. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the attacks targeted “Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” and “terrorists transferring weapons” in retaliation for a drone assault on Israeli troops stationed in the nearby “security zone” of the occupied Lebanese strip.

The killings come amid a broader Israeli escalation that has claimed at least 27 Lebanese lives over the past three days, prompting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to warn that the violence threatens a U.S.‑brokered ceasefire slated for June, which was intended to end the Israel‑Hezbollah conflict. The ceasefire framework calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal, and deployment of the Lebanese army across the south, but Hezbollah has rejected the terms, viewing the linkage of Israeli pull‑out to its own disarmament as a red line. The latest strikes, occurring only a few hundred metres from the Israeli‑declared security zone, have forced many residents to flee and have intensified calls from the international community for pressure on Israel to halt the attacks.

Eyewitnesses described the horror of the night’s events, with resident Sara Moallaem recounting how she rescued her five children from their rental home after the explosions and learned that distant relatives of her husband were among the dead. She said the targeting of civilians compelled her to consider moving her family to the coastal city of Sidon for safety. Hezbollah’s parliamentary member Ali Ammar responded by reaffirming the group’s “language of resistance” as the only effective response to Israel. The health ministry’s statement condemned the strikes as “grave violations of international humanitarian law,” highlighting the broader humanitarian impact and underscoring the precariousness of the ceasefire negotiations as the conflict escalates.

⚡ Effects Interpreter