Two Lebanese army officers and a soldier were killed in an Israeli strike on a military vehicle in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the Lebanese army said, in an attack that killed nine people in total across multiple Israeli airstrikes and drew sharp condemnation from Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who called it “a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and international law.”
The strikes came just days after Israel and Lebanon reached a fresh US-brokered ceasefire deal in Washington — an agreement that Hezbollah has refused to accept.
The Israeli military said it had targeted the vehicle after identifying what it described as a threat to its forces and receiving “concrete indications” that Hezbollah was preparing to fire on Israeli troops from the area. “An initial inquiry indicated that two officers and a soldier in the Lebanese army were inside the vehicle when it was struck,” the Israeli military said, adding that the incident is being reviewed.
The Israeli military stressed that “it operates against Hezbollah and not against the Lebanese army.”
What happened: Two separate Israeli strikes
The Lebanese army said the strike on the military vehicle occurred on the Khardali-Nabatieh road, some 70 km (44 miles) south of Beirut, on the road linking the city of Nabatieh with the town of Marjayoun.
Those killed in the vehicle strike were a brigadier general, a captain and another soldier, the army said without immediately releasing their names.
A second Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Saksakiyah killed six people and wounded four, the state-run National News Agency said.
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The Israeli military said the targeted vehicle was “moving suspiciously” toward Israeli soldiers near the village of Kfar Tibnit at the time of the strike.
Lebanese army’s response
The Lebanese army condemned the attack in unusually sharp terms. “The continued, deliberate, and repeated Israeli aggression against Lebanon, its people and its army only strengthens our resolve, faith and determination,” the army said in its statement.
It added that Israel’s attacks aim to thwart all efforts “to reach a solution that would restore stability, establish a comprehensive ceasefire and lead to the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories.”
The Lebanese army has largely stayed out of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel and has not taken part in the fighting during the current conflict.
President Aoun condemns ‘flagrant violation’
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli strike, calling it “a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and international law” that threatened stability in south Lebanon despite ongoing efforts to halt hostilities.
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Aoun said the attack came in the context of “ongoing escalation that threatens stability and security in the south, despite the efforts Lebanon is exerting in the Washington negotiations to put an end to the ongoing Israeli attacks without a deterrent.”
Hezbollah condemns Lebanese ‘concessions’
Iran-aligned Hezbollah condemned the strike, calling it a deliberate attack and part of what it described as Israel’s continued aggression against Lebanon.
The group said the attack was the result of what it called the Lebanese authorities’ disregard for the country’s sovereignty and a series of concessions, including what it described as acquiescence to Israeli demands in Washington, which it said had emboldened Israel.
Aoun-Iran exchange
On Friday, Aoun and Lebanon’s prime minister had criticised Iran for opposing the latest ceasefire deal between the Lebanese government and Israel, saying their country should not be used by Tehran as a “bargaining chip” in its talks with Washington.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded in a post on X on Saturday, writing: “One would think it’s Iran that has occupied a fifth of Lebanon, displaced a quarter of Lebanese and is bombing his country on daily basis.”
“Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago. Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr President,” Araghchi added in a clear reference to Israel.
Background: How the war began
The current war began on 2 March 2026, when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel — two days after Israel and the US began their attacks on Iran. Hezbollah said it was retaliating for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The conflict has since killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million people. Israel has launched a ground invasion of Lebanon and seized around a fifth of the country, pushing further into southern Lebanon than at any time since the end of Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation. The fighting has killed at least 29 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.
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The longer history
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah originally began after Hezbollah opened a front against Israel in October 2023 in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza war. The conflict escalated into a major Israeli air and ground campaign in Lebanon in 2024, killing much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership and causing widespread destruction in the country’s south and eastern regions.
A US-brokered ceasefire took effect in November 2024, but Israel has continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon, saying its attacks are aimed at Hezbollah members and infrastructure.
The Washington ceasefire and Hezbollah’s disarmament
The latest ceasefire announced in Washington came about through US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon’s government, which accuses Hezbollah of dragging the country into war and had made efforts to disarm the group before the latest hostilities.
Lebanon’s government has banned Hezbollah’s military activities and has backed US-mediated efforts to secure a durable ceasefire, including talks aimed at ending hostilities, securing an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and addressing the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons.
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Hezbollah has rejected proposals linking a ceasefire to its disarmament, saying Israel must first halt its attacks and withdraw its forces.
(With inputs from Reuters and AP)
