In a rare, major development related to the Israel-Hezbollah war, fresh Saturday Israeli airstrikes on Southern Lebanon on Saturday took out a group of Lebanese Army forces.
What's more is that several officers were reported killed: "Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon Saturday killed nine people including three members of the Lebanese military, the Lebanese army and state media said, days after the two sides reached a new ceasefire deal," The Associated Press reports.
"An airstrike on the road linking the city of Nabatiyeh with the town of Marjayoun occurred in the morning killing a brigadier general, a captain and another soldier, the army said without immediately releasing their names," the report continues.
"The continued, deliberate, and repeated Israeli aggression against Lebanon, its people and its army only strengthens our resolve, faith and determination," the Lebanese national forces said in its statement.
It accused Israel of thwarting all efforts "to reach a solution that would restore stability, establish a comprehensive ceasefire and lead to the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories."
According to the BBC:
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has launched an investigation after confirming it attacked a vehicle carrying Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning.
The Lebanese Army said two officers and a soldier were killed in the strike on a car, which it described as an "aggressive and barbaric raid". The IDF said the vehicle was "moving suspiciously towards forces" and gunfire had been reported in the area.
Currently Washington is applying immense pressure on the national government and army to move to 'disarm' Hezbollah; however, the Shia paramilitary group has long been the most well-armed and powerful faction in Lebanon, and is seen by most analysts as stronger than even the national army.
This is partly because the United States severely limits the kind of weaponry the Lebanese armed forces can possess, essentially sanctioning the army, on fears these weapons could be turned on Israel.
But if Lebanese officers are being killed under Israeli fire, the army is likely to feel even less incentive to move against Hezbollah. There's also serious political limitations - as Lebanon has long been a nation divided, and the end of the 20th century saw decades of internecine civil war and brutal infighting.
All of this is likely to make some of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's statements to CNN this week deeply unpopular. He had blasted both Iran and Hezbollah for turning Lebanon into a 'bargaining chip' with the West.
Many Lebanese have criticized him for criticizing Hezbollah instead of heaping all the blame on the invading Israeli military.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has also responded, stating sarcastically in a post on X Saturday that given Aoun's comments, "one would think it’s Iran that has occupied a fifth of Lebanon, displaced a quarter of Lebanese and is bombing his country on daily basis."
"Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago. Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President," Araghchi wrote in reference to Israel.