Israeli strikes on a residential building in southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people on Monday, extending a conflict that Lebanon says has killed more than 4,300 people since Hezbollah joined the wider Iran war in March. The escalation comes as Iran moves to tighten control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical energy corridor already running at a fraction of pre-war volumes.
At least 11 people were killed, including two children and two medics, when Israeli forces struck a residential building in a town in southern Lebanon on Monday, Lebanon's state news agency reported. The strike followed an Israeli military evacuation order issued earlier in the day for the town of Deir al-Zahrani, which told residents to move at least 300 meters from a building the army said sat near a Hezbollah facility.
Israel's military accused Hezbollah of a blatant violation of the ceasefire, saying the group had launched an explosive drone at its forces. The Monday strike followed seven deaths, including two women, in Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon on Sunday, which Israel described as retaliation for Hezbollah drones fired at its troops.
Ceasefire fails to hold
Lebanon was drawn into the regional war in March, when Hezbollah formally joined the fighting, prompting Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion. The conflict has killed at least 4,300 people and wounded over 12,000 since then, Lebanon says, despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect in late June. Monday's evacuation warning was only the third issued since the truce, following a first order on Aug. 5 and a second on Sunday.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the strikes a dangerous escalation and urged Washington and the international community to act. According to a statement: "President Aoun held the Israeli side fully responsible for this ongoing escalation", calling on the U.S. and international community to stop the violations and hold those responsible accountable.
Hormuz shipping tightens
The war between Iran and the U.S. has stretched into its seventh month. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a fraction of pre-war levels along the critical oil route. Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran will soon announce a restricted zone running from the U.S. naval blockade line through the strait into the Persian Gulf, adding that any ship entering the zone would be added to a sanctions list.
Rezaei also said Iran will sign off on a new shipping corridor through the strait, developed with Oman and operating under Iran's management. Separately, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said a nuclear agreement with Iran may no longer be achievable through negotiation, suggesting a deal may instead have to wait for a future Iranian government.
Source: CNBC
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