Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill at Least 7, Including a Child, State Media Report

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
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Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill at Least 7, Including a Child, State Media Report

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)

Five Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday killed at least eight people, including a child and several Hezbollah fighters, state media reported.

A drone strike in the town of Aita al-Jabal killed a 7-year-old child along with one other person, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The Israeli military said the strike killed Mohammad Mahmoud Najem, an operative in Hezbollah’s drone and rocket unit.

Iran-backed Hezbollah later confirmed Najem’s death and also announced the deaths of four other members Friday.

Photographs from the scene showed a burned-out small pickup truck.

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has been clashing nearly daily with Israeli forces in the border region for more than 10 months. The clashes have killed more than 500 people in Lebanon — most of them fighters but including more than 100 civilians and noncombatants — and 23 soldiers and 26 civilians in Israel.



Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
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Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a "grave mistake" that he said would benefit the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel's military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his "next steps" but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition, Reuters reported.

Smotrich's comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.

"... the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas," Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as "logistical support for the enemy during wartime".

The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.

Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to UN estimates.

Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.

PRESSURE

Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.

The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.