An Israeli airstrike targeted the locality of Deir Amis in the Tyre district, southern Lebanon, on Friday, shortly after a warning from the Israeli army calling on residents to evacuate the area.
In a statement, the Israeli army indicated that “Hezbollah activities and firings from your locality require the Israeli army to intervene against it in your residential area,” ensuring that they did not intend to target civilians and urging them to leave the village by more than 1,000 meters.
Tensions remain high despite the extension of a three-week truce between Israel and Lebanon, which is regularly undermined by mutual accusations of violations.
Hezbollah has once again accused Israel of not respecting the ceasefire and has stated its right to retaliate against its “aggressions.” Through the voice of its deputy Ali Fayad, the movement deemed the extension as “meaningless” in light of the persistent “hostile acts,” according to a statement from the party.
In effect since April 17 but regularly violated, the truce was initially set to expire on Sunday. The conflict has already claimed over 2,400 lives and displaced one million people in Lebanon since March 2.
Additionally, the Israeli army announced on Friday that Hezbollah had shot down one of its drones in southern Lebanon, just hours after the ceasefire extension was declared.
“Earlier on, an unmanned aerial vehicle of the Israeli army was shot down in southern Lebanon after a small surface-to-air missile was launched by the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” the army declared in a statement, specifying that the incident was under investigation.
