Israel Breaches US-Brokered Ceasefire Within Hours, Five Killed in Lebanon Strikes

Beirut: Israel violated a US-brokered ceasefire within hours of it coming into effect on Friday, killing five people in heavy airstrikes and drone attacks across southern Lebanon early Saturday. The development was reported by Lebanon's official news agency, NNA.

The ceasefire, which brought a temporary halt to the fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, had come into force at 4 pm on Friday. Disregarding the truce, Israel resumed bombing residential areas, with a wave of attacks by Israeli fighter jets and drones targeting the Nabatieh region of southern Lebanon from early Saturday morning.

Numerous residential complexes and homes were completely destroyed in the strikes. In addition to the air raids, the Israeli military also carried out heavy artillery shelling along the outskirts of Nabatieh city.

The sudden attack has plunged residents — many of whom had begun returning to their homes following the ceasefire announcement — back into panic. The ceasefire had come about on Friday after months of bloody conflict, with both sides agreeing to the truce following intervention by US officials.

This fresh violation by Israel comes even as the international community works to restore peace in the region. The Israeli Defense Forces have not yet issued an official response regarding the attack. With the truce negotiations now faltering, West Asia finds itself once again gripped by the fear of renewed war.