The Japan Times - Lebanon says 9 dead in strikes as Israel says targeted Hezbollah

Israel said it carried out retaliatory strikes against the Iran-backed militant group but Lebanon's prime minister said seven people killed in one of the strikes were not "military targets" and urged Israel to halt an "extremely dangerous" escalation.

Israel "escalated its attacks on the south" early Saturday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, reporting that warplanes struck a home on the outskirts of the village of Ansar and carried out a "series of airstrikes targeting the Ali al-Taher ridge", a strategic hill overlooking the Nabatieh area.

It later reported a strike on the southern town of Deir Zahrani.

Lebanon's health ministry said seven people were killed "including three children and two women," in Ansar, with another two people killed and nine others wounded in Deir Zahrani, adding that the toll there was provisional.

An AFP correspondent in Ansar saw a destroyed building as rescuers working to remove human remains from the rubble, and a swimming pool clouded and grey from dust and debris.

Abbas Khalil, 60, said he was doing his early morning Islamic prayers when the strike hit.

"We were shocked... There's no justification for this," he told AFP.

An Israeli army statement said that it struck "Hezbollah terror infrastructure in the areas of Nabatieh and Ansar", adding that the move came "in response to an action by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation" against Israeli soldiers in the Ali al-Taher Ridge area.

- 'Extremely dangerous' -

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that "the seven martyrs of the Israeli strike on the village of Ansar are not 'military infrastructure' and the women and children who were killed are not military targets."

"Israel must halt this escalation," he said, adding that it was "extremely dangerous and undermines efforts to consolidate stability in the south".

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.

Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.

Violence has significantly decreased since the signing of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June on the broader Middle East war and a US-sponsored framework deal between Lebanon and Israel later that month.

But Lebanon still reports intermittent Israeli strikes and broad demolitions of civilian buildings in southern villages and towns.

In Ansar standing next to the swampy swimming pool, building owner Mohammed Saab told AFP he waited every year to rent it out over the summer.

"What do I have here for this to happen?" he said in shock.

The NNA also said that "the valley between Ansar and Zarariyeh was also subjected to a strike, the first at this geographical depth since the ceasefire two months ago".

- Negotiations -

Ansar is around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Israeli border and is located beyond a so-called "yellow line" declared by the Israeli army which runs in Lebanese territory along the frontier and where Israeli troops are operating.

The Israel-Lebanon framework deal includes the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in "pilot zones".

On Friday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem accused Lebanese authorities of subjecting the country's armed forces to undue pressure by implementing the deal.

Israel and Lebanon are to hold an eighth round of US-sponsored negotiations in Rome early next month.

Earlier this week, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz visited southern Lebanon, vowing to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" there and saying the Israeli military was "destroying the underground infrastructure" and "destroying all the houses" in the area.

US State Department official told AFP that "a permanent military presence in south Lebanon is not consistent with the commitments made in the framework".

S.Ogawa--JT