17 killed, many injured in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire

At least 17 people were killed and several others injured Monday in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, marking new violations of an ongoing ceasefire, the state news agency NNA reported.

Four people were killed and three others injured in an attack that targeted the cemetery of Kafr Roummane town in Nabatieh.

Another three were killed in three separate drone strikes targeting two roads linking the Nabatieh and South governorates.

Separately, a strike targeting a house in the town of Arabsalim of Nabatieh killed a man and his wife, while another young man died from wounds sustained in an earlier attack on the same town.

In Western Bekaa district, five people were killed and several others injured in strikes targeting the town of Mashghara.

Two more were killed in a strike on the town of Kawthariyet El-Siyad in Sidon district.

The attacks came hours after an Israeli aircraft dropped incendiary phosphorus munitions on the forests of the southern municipality of Qalila, igniting fires in citrus groves and agricultural lands, the agency said.

Since March 2, Israel has carried out expanded offensive in southern Lebanon, killing nearly 3,200 and wounding more than 9,600, according to Lebanese officials.

Despite a US-mediated ceasefire that is in effect since April 17, the Israeli army continues its daily attacks and home demolitions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he ordered army to expand strikes across Lebanon.