Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday killed 11 people, the Lebanese health ministry reported, representing some of the deadliest attacks since the nation accepted a US‑mediated ceasefire framework with Israel. Hezbollah said the strikes would be met with retaliation.

Negotiated under US auspices, the framework calls for Israeli troops to remain in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed and the Lebanese army assumes control, terms the group has rejected as surrender. Israeli officials said the strikes targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in response to recent attacks on Israeli soldiers.

The Lebanese health ministry said seven of the dead were from a house strike in the village of Ansar, including three children and two women, and that 19 people were wounded. Four additional deaths occurred in a separate strike on the village of Deir El Zahrani. The Israeli military said it struck a central headquarters of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in Ansar, killing commander Ali Samir Al‑Haj Hassan and several others, and noted that the family present with the commander was not the target. Hezbollah issued a statement threatening to respond in kind. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attack, saying the victims were not military targets, while parliament speaker Nabih Berri called for national unity and urged external sponsors of the ceasefire to intervene.

US State Department officials said a permanent Israeli military presence in the area was inconsistent with the ceasefire agreement, and Defence Minister Israel Katz reiterated that Israel would not withdraw until Hezbollah disarmed, while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the attacks as a message aimed at the ongoing negotiations.