Thirty-nine people were killed in another day of intense Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Saturday, the country’s health ministry said, with one strike on the southern town of Saksakiyeh killing at least seven people including a child.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was targeting Hezbollah and was “aware of reports regarding harm to uninvolved civilians.” Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed group have continued to trade fire since US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon on April 16. Most strikes have hit southern Lebanon, with the military saying it is targeting infrastructure and personnel linked to Hezbollah.

In Saksakiyeh, the health ministry said an Israeli raid produced “an initial toll of seven martyrs, including a girl, and 15 wounded, including three children.” The IDF said it had struck “Hezbollah terrorists operating from within a structure used for military purposes” and that “steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians as much as possible, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” adding that details were under review.

A separate strike on a motorbike in Nabatieh hit “a Syrian national and his 12-year-old daughter,” the ministry said. After the pair moved away from the first strike site, “the drone attacked a second time,” killing the father, before targeting the girl “directly for a third time.” She was undergoing life-saving surgery, the ministry added. Hezbollah retaliated with a drone toward northern Israel, which the Israeli military said wounded three soldiers.

The health ministry — which does not distinguish combatants from civilians — said Israeli attacks have killed more than 120 people across Lebanon in the past week, including women and children. The Israeli military also continues to occupy a strip of Lebanese land along the border, which officials describe as a Hezbollah-free buffer to protect northern communities.

Saturday’s toll is the deadliest single-day figure since the ceasefire took effect and follows the first Israeli strike on Beirut since the truce earlier this week. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said any new direct talks must be preceded by a halt to Israeli operations and a timetable for withdrawal.

Source: Ada Derana.