Israel vowed Sunday it would hit Hezbollah again if threatened, as it identified what it described as a commander killed in strikes a day earlier that also left several children dead.
Israeli strikes on Saturday killed 11 people in southern Lebanon, according to authorities, in the deadliest attacks since a deal was reached in June aimed at ending hostilities.
Israel said the strikes were a response to Hezbollah setting off explosive drones inside a so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon, seriously injuring three Israeli troops, including an officer.
“No score will be left unsettled in any arena. We’ll defend our soldiers and our civilians with full power,” Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X.
The Israeli military identified one of those killed on Saturday as Abu Hassan Alaa, saying he was a senior commander of Hezbollah’s Badr unit who had been involved in firing drones at Israeli troops.
Israel earlier said that the strike killed a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan.
The Israeli military acknowledged that Hassan’s family was present but defended the strike by saying they were not the target.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said a “whole family” had been killed in the strike in the village of Ansar, with Lebanon’s health ministry reporting that three children and two women died.
Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, condemned the strike.
“Children and civilians continue to pay an unacceptable price. International humanitarian law is clear: civilians must be protected at all times,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Hezbollah of deliberately placing civilians in harm’s way.
Hezbollah denied the account, saying that “another entire family has been wiped out following orders issued by Netanyahu."
“Netanyahu, who is the subject of proceedings before the International Criminal Court over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, is once again presiding over the killing of Lebanese civilians,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the regional war in March by firing rockets at Israel in support of Iran, after US-Israeli strikes that sparked war in late February.
Lebanon and Israel signed a US-brokered deal in which Lebanon’s army will gradually take over security in southern areas occupied by Israel, but Hezbollah has refused to disarm.