Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday accused Israel of undermining a US-brokered agreement to end hostilities after 27 people were killed in attacks on southern Lebanon in the last three days.
“Israel's repeated attacks, the killing of innocents, including children and women, the destruction and burning of homes, and the bulldozing of property are condemned, rejected, and unjustified crimes,” Mr Aoun said during a meeting with French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin.
“These actions target the framework agreement and undermine all efforts to halt the escalation in the south and the region as a whole,” Mr Aoun said.
Rescue teams were still recovering bodies from the rubble on Monday morning after a night of heavy Israeli strikes across the district.
At least 12 people, among them a child and two women, were killed overnight, according to the health ministry, as Israel stepped up its military operations following its seizure of the strategic Ali Al Taher ridge. Eleven people were killed on Sunday, and four people on Friday.
Israel also destroyed the Ghandour Hospital, closed since 2024, in Nabatieh Al Fawqa on Sunday.
The Israeli army said the strike targeted a “Hezbollah command centre that had been established in a building that had previously served as a hospital”. Its claim could not be independently verified.
Israel’s intensification of attacks comes despite the US-brokered framework agreement signed by Israel and Lebanon on June 26. The agreement stipulates a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory in predetermined “pilot zones” in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament and the Lebanese army assuming control.
The agreement aimed to establish a process towards ending hostilities, but Israeli forces have continued advancing inside southern Lebanon while negotiations over its implementation have moved at a snail's pace.
The latest escalation came as Israeli forces sought to consolidate their position on Ali Al Taher, which overlooks Nabatieh and the surrounding region that Israel regards as Hezbollah's last major defensive position.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that “the capture of Ali Al Taher hill marks the completion of the sealing off of the security zone in southern Lebanon”.
“We advanced towards Ali Al Taher following intelligence indicating the presence of Hezbollah command-and-control tunnels,” Mr Katz said. The ridge, he added, was “the last bastion defending the Nabatieh region, which is of critical importance to Hezbollah”.
The ridge lies considerably north of the border areas where Israeli forces occupy a so-called security buffer zone that extends 6km to 10km into Lebanon.
The Israeli military said its forces had spent weeks operating in extensive Hezbollah tunnel systems beneath Ali Al Taher before announcing on Thursday that they had established “operational control” of the ridge.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan Radio reported that Israel was preparing to destroy two underground routes in southern Lebanon in the coming days. Israeli troops are expected to pull back from the ridge once the demolition work is completed, it said.
