The girl then moved about 100 meters away and was hit again
Three weeks after a formal ceasefire took effect between Israel and Hezbollah, the agreement continues to fracture under the weight of daily violations — a pattern that claimed at least seventeen lives across Lebanon on Saturday, among them a twelve-year-old girl. The strikes, carried out by Israeli drones and warplanes from the outskirts of Beirut to the villages of the south, reflect a recurring tension between the architecture of diplomacy and the momentum of conflict. As both sides trade attacks and assign blame, direct talks are set to resume in Washington, testing whether negotiation can outpace escalation.
- A ceasefire signed just three weeks ago is unraveling in real time, with Saturday's strikes representing one of the deadliest single-day tolls since the truce took effect.
- A twelve-year-old girl in Nabatiyeh was struck by a drone, fled wounded, and was struck again — dying in hospital — in an account that drew a formal condemnation from Lebanon's Health Ministry for what it called barbaric targeting of civilians.
- Israel justified its strikes by pointing to Hezbollah drone fire that wounded three of its soldiers, while Hezbollah claimed responsibility for multiple attacks including a strike on an Israeli military post in the north.
- Key transit routes south of Beirut were hit, including the highway to Sidon, signaling that the strikes are disrupting civilian infrastructure well beyond the border zone.
- Lebanon's Prime Minister traveled to Damascus to discuss regional security cooperation even as the violence escalated at home, and Washington talks scheduled for Thursday now carry the weight of a visibly collapsing truce.
On Saturday, Israeli drones and warplanes struck targets across Lebanon, killing at least seventeen people and exposing just how fragile the April 17 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has become. Three drone strikes south of Beirut killed four people along highways connecting the capital to the southern port city of Sidon. Simultaneously, a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon killed at least thirteen more, with the village of Saksakiyeh alone suffering seven dead and fifteen wounded.
The most devastating account came from Nabatiyeh, where a Syrian man and his twelve-year-old daughter were struck by a drone while riding a motorcycle. They managed to move from the initial impact site, only to be hit again almost immediately. The girl fled roughly a hundred meters before a third strike found her. She died in hospital. Lebanon's Health Ministry condemned what it called the barbaric targeting of civilians and children, calling the strikes grave violations of international humanitarian law.
Israel's military cited Hezbollah drone fire that wounded three of its soldiers as justification for its operations, while Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks of its own, including a strike on an Israeli post in the northern town of Misgav Am. The exchange illustrated the daily rhythm of mutual violations that has defined the truce since its inception.
The current conflict began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel following U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran. Israel responded with hundreds of airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. The ceasefire, brokered in Washington and extended by three weeks, now faces its most serious test, with a new round of talks scheduled to begin Thursday. Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam traveled to Damascus on Saturday to meet Syria's interim president, signaling a broader effort to stabilize the region — even as the strikes continued and the truce grew harder to defend.
On Saturday, Israeli drones and warplanes struck targets across Lebanon, killing at least seventeen people in a series of attacks that underscored how fragile the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has become since it took effect three weeks earlier. Three drone strikes hit vehicles just south of Beirut, killing four people. Simultaneously, a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon claimed at least thirteen more lives, among them a man and his twelve-year-old daughter who were struck multiple times by the same drone.
The strikes marked another breach of the April 17 ceasefire agreement, which both sides have continued to violate with daily attacks despite the formal truce. On Wednesday night, Israel had already carried out an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut—the first strike near the capital since the ceasefire began—claiming it killed a senior Hezbollah military official. Saturday's escalation suggested the agreement was deteriorating rapidly.
Two of the drone strikes on Saturday targeted the highway connecting Beirut to Sidon, the southern port city, wounding several people. A third strike hit a road leading toward Lebanon's Chouf region, killing three. An Associated Press journalist witnessed a body on the highway in the town of Saadiyat. The Health Ministry reported that an airstrike on the southern village of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven people, including a child, and wounded fifteen more—though officials cautioned this was an initial count. Additional strikes struck the villages of Bourj Rahhal, which killed three, and Maifadoun, which killed one.
The most harrowing account came from the city of Nabatiyeh, where a Syrian man was riding a motorcycle with his twelve-year-old daughter when a drone struck them. After the initial impact, the man and girl managed to move away from the strike site, only to be hit again almost immediately by another drone strike that killed the man. The girl, already wounded, fled roughly one hundred meters away before being struck a third time. She later died in a hospital. The Lebanese Health Ministry issued a statement condemning what it called the "barbaric targeting" of civilians and children, characterizing the strikes as grave violations of international humanitarian law.
Israel's military said Hezbollah had fired explosive drones into Israeli territory near the border, wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously. The military also reported that Hezbollah launched drones from inside Lebanon, with one hitting an Israeli vehicle without causing casualties. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks inside Lebanon and said it had fired a drone at an Israeli military post in the northern town of Misgav Am.
The current conflict traces back to March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran, Hezbollah's primary backer. Israel responded with hundreds of airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, capturing dozens of towns and villages along the border. The two countries, formally at war since Israel's founding in 1948, held their first direct talks in more than thirty years before reaching the ceasefire agreement.
The ten-day ceasefire declared in Washington took effect on April 17 and was later extended by three weeks. A new round of talks is scheduled to begin Thursday in Washington and will run for two days. Meanwhile, Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam traveled to Damascus on Saturday to meet with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, discussing strengthened relations and security cooperation amid the regional conflicts. Before returning home, Salam told reporters that Lebanon would not be used again to harm "our Arab brothers, on top of them Syria"—an indirect reference to Hezbollah's role in backing Syria's government during the civil war that ended in December 2024.
With Saturday's deaths and the scheduled resumption of talks just days away, the ceasefire appeared increasingly strained, raising questions about whether diplomatic efforts could hold or whether the cycle of strikes and counterstrikes would continue to deepen.
Citações Notáveis
The Ministry of Public Health denounced the strikes as barbaric targeting and deliberate violence against civilians and children, characterizing them as grave violations of international humanitarian law.— Lebanese Health Ministry
Lebanon will not be used again to harm our Arab brothers, on top of them Syria.— Prime Minister Nawaf Salam
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a ceasefire that's been in place for three weeks still look like active war?
Because neither side has actually stopped fighting. The agreement was supposed to create space for talks, but both Israel and Hezbollah kept their weapons hot. It's a ceasefire in name only.
And the strikes on Saturday—were those retaliation, or something else?
They appear to be part of the same pattern. Israel says it was responding to Hezbollah drone fire that wounded its soldiers. But the timing, the targets—civilian areas, families on highways—suggests something deeper. The ceasefire was always fragile.
Tell me about the girl in Nabatiyeh. Why was she struck three times?
That's the question that haunts this story. The first strike hit her and her father on the motorcycle. They survived it, moved away. Then the drone hit again, killing him. She ran, wounded, and was hit a third time. It suggests either deliberate targeting or a complete disregard for civilian life once the first strike missed its mark.
What does Lebanon's government want now?
Stability. The Prime Minister is in Damascus talking to Syria about strengthening ties and security. He's trying to position Lebanon as a country that won't be used as a proxy battlefield anymore. But with seventeen people dead on Saturday alone, those words ring hollow.
Do the talks in Washington this week have any chance?
That depends on whether either side actually wants a ceasefire or just wants to appear willing to negotiate. The pattern suggests the latter. Every time there's supposed to be peace, the strikes continue. The talks might be theater.