BEIRUT -Israeli airstrikes killed at least 11 people in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the deadliest day since a truce between Israel and Hezbollah took effect June 20, Lebanese authorities said.
One strike hit a house on the edge of the village of Ansar, killing seven people, including three children, and wounding two, Lebanon's Health Ministry and its state-run National News Agency said. A second strike, on the village of Deir al-Zahrani, killed four and wounded 17, The Associated Press reported.
The Israeli military said the strikes were a response to a Hezbollah attack earlier Saturday in the area of the Ali Taher ridge, inside the zone where Israeli troops are operating. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said three soldiers were seriously wounded, announcing it in a rare English-language statement issued on Shabbat.
The military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in Ansar and near Nabatieh, about 9 miles apart, and killed a senior Hezbollah commander. It later acknowledged civilian casualties and said the women and children who died were relatives of the commander, accusing the group of "deliberately putting civilians in that military compound," according to The Times of Israel.
President Joseph Aoun condemned the strikes and the killing of an entire family in Ansar, saying the violations amounted to a "clear message" about the negotiating process, according to a statement from his office. The next round of U.S.-sponsored talks between Lebanon and Israel is scheduled for early next month in Rome.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also criticized the attacks, saying they intimidate residents in their homes and undermine efforts to stabilize the south.
Israel and the Lebanese government announced a framework agreement June 26 that set out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group. The agreement also envisions steps toward an eventual peace treaty between the two countries, which technically remain at war nearly 80 years after Israel's founding.
Hezbollah has refused direct talks with Israel and was not a party to the deal. Since the truce took effect, Israel has carried out near-daily strikes in the south, most of them limited in scale. Saturday's toll surpassed any single day since June.