Israeli airstrikes on Kfar Rumman in southern Lebanon killed at least 12 people early Monday, including two children, four women and a paramedic, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The attacks, among the deadliest in the area in recent weeks, struck a residential building and a vehicle as rescue teams searched the rubble in the Nabatiyeh district.
The ministry said 11 people died when one strike destroyed the residential building. Eight others were wounded, including three children and a paramedic. A separate drone strike on a vehicle killed a paramedic from the Lebanese Islamic Risala Scout Association and wounded two other medics, according to the ministry. Reuters reporters at the scene saw schoolbooks scattered through broken concrete while heavy machinery removed debris.
The Israeli military said its attacks followed two explosive-drone launches by Hezbollah toward Israeli troops near the Ali al-Taher ridge. It said the Kfar Rumman operation targeted a Hezbollah member transporting weapons and that it used precision munitions and aerial surveillance to reduce harm to uninvolved people. Hezbollah did not claim the drone attacks or immediately comment, and Reuters said it could not independently confirm the military situation around the ridge.
The violence followed several days of sharper fighting. Lebanon's Health Ministry reported that Israeli strikes killed at least 11 people on Sunday in three towns near the ridge and four others on Friday. Israel says it has established operational control of Ali al-Taher, a strategic group of hills overlooking villages and routes toward Nabatiyeh. Lebanese security officials told Reuters they expected the escalation in the south to continue.
The fighting is testing a US-brokered framework signed by Lebanon and Israel on June 26. The arrangement envisaged a gradual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament and the Lebanese army taking control. Implementation has made little progress: Hezbollah is not a party to the talks and rejects disarmament north of the Litani River, while Israeli officials demand that it disarm throughout Lebanon. President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of undermining the framework through its intensified attacks.
Lebanon's ministry says Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,300 people since Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2, including more than 250 children, nearly 400 women and more than 130 medics; it does not otherwise separate civilians from fighters. The latest deaths deepen concern that the reduced violence after the June agreement may give way to a wider campaign. Rescue work and casualty assessments continued Monday as both sides faced renewed pressure to prevent further escalation.
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