ISTANBUL

At least seven people were killed and 40 injured Saturday in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, according to an Anadolu tally based on official Lebanese sources.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said in the town of Touline in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon, five people, including a child, were killed and 11 injured in an Israeli airstrike.

In the towns of Housh al-Sayyid and Saraain in eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel governorate, it said Israeli airstrikes left six injured.

An Israeli drone strike targeted a parking area in the al-Raml neighborhood of Tyre on Saturday evening, injuring four people, according to an initial Health Ministry toll.

The ministry added that a strike on the town of Yahmor al-Shaqif in the Nabatieh district injured one person, while two others were wounded in a strike on Kfarkela.

The attacks came after Israel claimed that its settlement of Metula was hit by a rocket attack originating from Lebanon, prompting Israeli forces to retaliate with airstrikes on several villages and towns in southern Lebanon.

It marked the first rocket attack of its kind since a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect nearly four months ago.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on Metula.

A fragile ceasefire had been in place in Lebanon since November, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group, Hezbollah, which escalated into a full-scale conflict in September.

Lebanese authorities reported nearly 1,100 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including the deaths of at least 85 victims and injuries to more than 280.​​​​​​​

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after Israel refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.