Israeli Strikes Kill At Least 20 Civilians In Southern Lebanon Despite Ceasefire

Israeli aerial raids targeted multiple areas in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire between the Beirut government and the Tel Aviv regime, killing at least 20 people including a civil defense rescuer.

The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said an Israeli airstrike killed four people, including two women, and injured eight others in the town of Toura in the Tyre district on Friday.

Al Jazeera

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that rescue operations were still going on to recover a girl trapped beneath the rubble after an Israeli assault struck the town of Blat in the Marjayoun district.

The General Directorate of Civil Defense said a civil defense member was killed after an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle targeted a car traveling along a road connecting Kfarchuba to Kfarhamam in the Hasbaya district.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said 50 people were killed in the past 24 hours in Israeli strikes against southern Lebanon.

The deadliest phase of the Lebanon war described by Al Sharq came as Israeli strikes on densely populated residential areas in Beirut and other Lebanese cities killed more than 250 people and left over 1,000 injured, with the Lebanese government declaring a national day of mourning on Thursday.

Al Sharq said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the strikes as a 'massacre' and quoted Volker Türk saying, "Such a massacre, which occurred hours after the ceasefire agreement with Iran, is unbelievable."

Al-Jazeera Net

In the same account, Al Sharq reported that Israel dubbed the attacks Operation 'Endless Darkness' and said the Israeli army acknowledged that most of Wednesday's raids targeted populated civilian areas with no warning issued to residents during the assault.

DW reported that on Sunday, March 22, 2026, Israeli army spokesman Evi Defrin said Israel expects 'weeks of fighting' against Hezbollah and Iran, adding, "O citizens of Israel, we still face several weeks of fighting against Iran and Hezbollah."

DW also said Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz stated that the intensity of attacks by the Israeli and American armies would increase significantly, while Washington maintained ambiguity about when its military operations would end.

DW said Israel hit a major bridge over the Litani River in southern Lebanon, reporting that the al-Qasimiyeh Bridge over the Litani River north of Tyre was struck in an airstrike that partially destroyed it and caused dense columns of smoke.

DW also described an Israeli order to destroy immediately all the bridges over the Litani River used for terrorist activities to prevent Hezbollah terrorists and their weapons from moving south, after Israel said it struck two bridges crossing the river on Wednesday.

Al Sharq reported that Israel issued evacuation orders covering about 15% of Lebanese territory since March 2, mostly in the south and in Beirut's southern suburbs, displacing more than 1.2 million Lebanese.

Al Sharq said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli strikes on Lebanon and called for an 'immediate stop to hostilities,' warning that the ongoing strikes pose a 'grave risk to the ceasefire and to efforts to achieve lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.'

France 24 said the spillover of the war into Lebanon followed Hezbollah rockets at Israel after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and it reported that Israeli raids had killed at least 912 people including 111 children while more than one million people were displaced.