ISRAELI air attacks on southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people at the weekend.

They were the deadliest attacks since a truce between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on June 20.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an attack on Saturday that targeted a home on the edge of Ansar village killed seven people, including three children, and wounded two. The second attack on the village of Deir al-Zahrani killed four and wounded 17.

Israel and the Lebanese government announced a controversial “framework agreement” on June 26, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of the Hezbollah resistance group. 

The deal envisions steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the countries, which remain technically at war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment.

Hezbollah has refused direct talks and wasn’t party to the deal.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam slammed Israel’s air strikes on southern Lebanon, saying they intimidate “residents in their homes” and undermine efforts to stabilise the situation in the south.

“The seven martyrs of the Israeli air strike on the town of Ansar are not military infrastructure and the children and women killed were not military targets,” Mr Salam wrote on social media. 

He added that it is the job of the Lebanese state to deal with any military infrastructure in the country.

President Joseph Aoun said in comments released by his office that the strikes are “a clear message to the negotiation track and to the US efforts aimed at implementing this agreement.”

Israel claimed the attacks were retaliation for actions against its soldiers.

Intense Israeli air strikes on Saturday also hit the strategic Ali Taher hill, which overlooks parts of the southern city of Nabatiyeh, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.

Despite the truce, Israel’s military has continued near-daily attacks in the area north of the Litani River, with large areas to the south occupied by Israeli forces.