Lebanon’s health ministry reported Wednesday that nine people were killed in Israeli strikes targeting cars between Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The strikes, along with others on various areas of the country’s south, came a day before the third expected round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, brokered by the United States.
Hezbollah is strongly opposed to the direct talks and on Wednesday claimed several attacks on Israeli troops who have invaded southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry said three strikes on cars along or near the coastal highway around 20 to 30 kilometers (12-19 miles) from Beirut killed eight people, including two children. Two strikes hit cars on the highway, a busy motorway that links Beirut to the country’s south, while a third struck nearby, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said.
A fourth strike hit a car in Sidon, southern Lebanon’s largest city, around 40 kilometers south of Beirut, with the health ministry reporting one dead there.
The NNA also reported several strikes on villages and cars in south Lebanon’s Tyre region.
Under the terms of the ceasefire released by Washington, Israel reserves the right to act against “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks.”
On Tuesday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned that his fighters would turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israel.Â