At least 12 people were killed in Israeli air strikes and drone attacks in southern Lebanon on Saturday, Lebanese state media reported, just hours after a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group took effect.

The Lebanese army also said an Israeli strike killed one of its soldiers.

"An Israeli enemy strike targeted an army soldier on the Kfar Rumman-Nabatieh road, leading to his martyrdom," an army statement said, charging that "the continuation of brutal Israeli attacks aims to obstruct any solution that would allow for restoring stability in Lebanon".

Following the Lebanese army statement, an Israeli military official claimed the strikes were in response to Hezbollah firing more than 50 projectiles at the country's forces in southern Lebanon overnight.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said on Saturday his group had the right to respond to Israeli attacks, as Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon despite a new ceasefire announced a day earlier.

"There is talk of a ceasefire," he said in a statement.

"For us, what concerns us is that the enemy fully and comprehensively respects the ceasefire, and doesn't attempt to attack our country and villages or seek to occupy any new position," Fadlallah said, adding that "the resistance has the full right to confront this enemy when it attacks us, as it is the aggressor and the occupier".

Lebanon's National News Agency said the strikes by Israeli warplanes and drones hit the Nabatieh area overnight and into Saturday morning, destroying residential buildings and homes, while Israeli artillery shelled Nabatieh and its outskirts before dawn.

They came after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to the ceasefire on Friday following an escalation in hostilities in Lebanon, according to a US official.

The strikes came as Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei was cited by ISNA news agency as saying that Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is due to hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran on Saturday.

Baghaei said Naqvi's visit is part of Islamabad's ongoing efforts related to negotiations between Iran and the United States.

The recent outbreak of violence in Lebanon is the latest snag in an American push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran just days after the signing of an agreement that opens a two-month window for negotiations. (Agencies)




Edited by Azam Khan