Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have killed at least 28 people, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA), despite a temporary United States-mediated ceasefire that took effect on April 17, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday. The toll is the figure reported by the NNA via Al Jazeera; Awaaz Punjab is attributing casualty claims to their sources, as in all war coverage.

Source: Al Jazeera

In Jebchit, four people were killed and nine others wounded in an attack that destroyed a residential building, Al Jazeera reported, citing the NNA. A separate attack killed four members of one family, including a child — Awaaz Punjab does not name or identify minor victims. In Toul, four people were killed and six wounded, and a later attack on a home in Toul killed one person and injured two others, the report said.

In Harouf, two people were killed and a house was destroyed, and in Qana two people were killed in an air raid, Al Jazeera reported. A Lebanese soldier and several members of his family were killed in a raid on their home in Kfar Rumman in the Nabatieh district, according to the report, which said the Lebanese Army confirmed those deaths. In Zebdine, a drone attack killed six people near the town's cemetery, two people were injured in Dibbine, and one person was killed in Qlawiyah in the Bint Jbeil district, the report said.

Israeli soldier reported killed; displacement orders for 15 towns

Israel's military said one of its soldiers from the Golani Brigade was killed in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reported. The Times of Israel, citing the Israeli military, said the soldier was killed when Hezbollah launched several explosive-laden rockets at Israeli troop positions in the village of Qantara, and another soldier was moderately wounded — that is the Israeli side's account, reported as such.

The Israeli army has also issued forced displacement threats for 15 southern Lebanese towns and villages, including Jebchit, Toul, al-Samanieh, Sahel al-Hnieh, Qlailah, Wadi Jilo, al-Kanisa, Kafr Jouz, Majdal Zoun and Seddiqine, Al Jazeera reported. Separately, Lebanon's National News Agency, cited by Middle East Eye reporting on Thursday's operations, reported Israeli demolitions and strikes around Kfar Tibnit, Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Haddatha and Wadi al-Salouqi, with drones over Tyre and Beirut.

Aoun denounces violations; toll since March 2

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun denounced what he called the continuing Israeli violations in southern Lebanon on Thursday, saying they were occurring despite the ceasefire, as do demolitions of homes and places of worship, while the number of killed and wounded rises day after day. He called for pressure on Israel to respect international law and to stop targeting civilians, paramedics, civil defence and humanitarian workers. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for the swift formation of an international fact-finding committee.

Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed at least 2,586 people in Lebanon, with 8,020 wounded, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, Al Jazeera reported. For Punjabi and Indian workers and students in the Gulf and the wider Middle East, continued fighting in Lebanon — alongside the wider regional war — keeps flight, work and remittance routes under strain.