Israeli Strikes Shatter Lebanon Ceasefire: Six Dead as Occupation Spreads

Just weeks after a US-brokered truce, Israel unleashes fresh attacks across Lebanon and forcibly displaces 12 villages. The ceasefire is already crumbling.

The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is collapsing in real time.

Israeli air strikes have killed at least six people and wounded three others across southern and eastern Lebanon, Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed. The attacks represent a devastating violation of the US-brokered ceasefire that took effect on April 17.

The deadliest strike hit Zellaya, a town in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Four people were killed and three wounded when Israeli jets hammered a residential home. Among the dead: Ali Qassem Ahmad, the head of Zellaya’s municipal council, along with three family members.

But the bloodshed didn’t stop there. Israeli forces unleashed a coordinated assault across multiple fronts. Fighter jets and drones hammered southern Lebanon while artillery shelled the village of Mayfadoun, killing two more civilians. The Tyre district bore the brunt of the aerial bombardment, with strikes lighting up the sky across multiple neighborhoods.

Hezbollah fired back, claiming responsibility for attacks on Israeli military positions. But the armed group’s response couldn’t stop what happened next.

Israel then issued forced displacement orders for 12 villages in southern Lebanon, ordering residents to evacuate and stay at least one kilometre from their homes. Here’s the explosive part: many of these villages sit north of the Litani River, an area Israel doesn’t even militarily occupy. This marks the first time since the ceasefire began that Israel has expanded forced displacement into the western Bekaa Valley.

Israel claims Hezbollah violated the ceasefire first but has provided zero credible evidence.

The numbers tell a horrifying story. Since fighting renewed on March 2, Israeli operations have killed approximately 2,700 people and displaced over 1.2 million Lebanese civilians. Entire villages have been obliterated, with observers drawing comparisons to the devastation Israel has inflicted on Gaza.

The occupation is expanding. The ceasefire is crumbling. And the killing continues.