MIDDLE EAST
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Israel kills four people in southern Lebanon in latest breach of extended ceasefire
Lebanese state media reported Israeli strikes were taking place across southern Lebanon, in violation of the extended ceasefire.
Israel kills four people in southern Lebanon in latest breach of extended ceasefire
Israel has killed over 2,520 people and wounded more than 7,800 others in Lebanon since March 2. / Reuters

Israel has killed four people, including a woman, in southern Lebanon and wounded 51 others, three of them children, according to the Ministry of Public Health, in the latest violation of the extended ceasefire.

Lebanese state media reported on Monday that Israeli air strikes in multiple locations in south Lebanon, including around a dozen sites, in the evening.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli warplanes carried out a strike targeting the town of Majdal Zoun in the Tyre district.

The agency also said the Israeli army demolished houses in Hanin and carried out another large-scale blast in Chihine.

Air strikes also targeted the towns of Hadatha, Braachit and Haris, according to NNA.

Meanwhile, the Alman - Ech Choumariye area in Nabatieh district came under intermittent artillery shelling, while another air strike targeted the area between Qana and Siddiqine.

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'Grave sin'

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement that "my goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel, similar to the armistice agreement" of 1949, signed after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

"I assure you that I will not accept reaching a humiliating agreement," said Aoun.

Earlier, Hezbollah's chief sharply criticised the government, branding direct negotiations with Israel a "grave sin".

"We categorically reject direct negotiations with Israel, and those in power should know that their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves," Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a statement.

He urged authorities to "back down from their grave sin that is putting Lebanon in a spiral of instability".

The government "cannot continue while it is neglecting Lebanon's rights, giving up land, and confronting" those resisting Israel, he said.

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Ceasefire violations

Israel has killed over 2,520 people and wounded more than 7,800 others in Lebanon since March 2.

A 10-day ceasefire was declared between Lebanon and Israel on April 17, though Tel Aviv has repeatedly violated it.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend the truce by three weeks following a second round of talks between the two sides in Washington.

The Hezbollah group has carried out a series of retaliatory attacks targeting Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, citing Israel's repeated violations of the truce.

SOURCE:TRT World & Agencies