Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill 7, officials say, as IDF threatens more attacks
LONDON -- Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed at least seven people on Saturday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, as the Israel Defense Forces responded to rocket launches from the south of the country toward Israel.
The cross-border exchanges were the largest since a U.S.-brokered truce came into effect in November, ending more than a year of fighting between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
A child was among the seven people killed by Israel's strikes, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Another 40 people were injured, it added in a statement.
The ministry reported Israeli strikes in at least seven areas of the country's south, where Hezbollah wields major influence. The coastal city of Tyre -- the country's fifth largest city -- was among the areas hit.
Southern Lebanon was the location of much of Israel's recent air and ground campaign against Hezbollah, with parts of the capital Beirut also devastated.
The IDF said its strikes were conducted in response to the launch of six rockets from Lebanon toward Israel on Saturday morning.
"The IDF struck Hezbollah command centers, infrastructure sites, terrorists, rocket launchers and a weapons storage facility throughout Lebanon," the IDF said in a statement, adding it will "continue to strike as required in order to protect Israeli civilians."
An Israeli official told ABC News that three of the six rockets fired crossed into Israeli territory. The official said Israel could not immediately confirm which group was responsible, though described the attack as "a serious violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon."
Hezbollah denied responsibility for the rocket launches, suggesting that the "allegations are merely pretexts" for Israeli strikes on Lebanon, "which have not ceased since the ceasefire was announced."
Israel has continued to launch strikes against what it says are Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon since the agreement was signed.
"Hezbollah reiterates our commitment to the ceasefire agreement," the group's statement continued, framing the Israeli strikes as "dangerous" and an "escalation."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the IDF had been instructed "to act forcefully against dozens of terror targets in Lebanon."
Lebanon's government, they added, will be held responsible for "everything taking place within its territory".
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement that the army had been ordered to investigate the rocket launches and called for all parties to engage with the "utmost seriousness."
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that his country was at risk of being drawn into a "new war."
Israeli troops are still present at five locations inside southern Lebanon despite the country's commitment to withdraw as part of the November ceasefire.
Renewed Israel-Lebanese tensions come alongside the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after nearly two months.
As of Sunday, health officials in the Hamas-run territory said at least 673 people had been killed and 1,233 others wounded by renewed Israeli attacks.
ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz, Anna Burd, Sami Zyara, Diaa Ostaz, Morgan Winsor and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
