BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Lebanese state media reported a series of new Israeli strikes in the country's south on Saturday night, after attacks earlier in the day killed six people despite a recently extended ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah

The new attacks followed orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military to "forcefully attack Hezbollah targets" after the army accused it of breaching the truce.

Lebanon's health ministry had said earlier that "Israeli enemy strikes on a truck and a motorbike in the town of Yohmor al-Shaqeef in the Nabatieh district killed four people".

Another attack "on the town of Safad al-Battikh, in the Bint Jbeil district, resulted in two fatalities and 17 injuries", it reported.

Israel's military said it "eliminated" three Hezbollah operatives on Saturday who were driving "a vehicle loaded with weapons", as well as another one riding a motorcycle, and two more armed members of the group elsewhere.

It also said it identified two projectiles launched from Lebanon, decrying "a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings" by Hezbollah, and later intercepted another "suspicious aerial target".

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it targeted an Israeli army vehicle in south Lebanon in retaliation for the attack on Yohmor al-Shaqeef.

Following Netanyahu's order to attack the group, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported a pair of strikes in quick succession in a town in Bint Jbeil district, another on a town in Tyre district, and strikes on two more towns in Nabatieh district.

The Israeli military said that it had "struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure used for military purposes across southern Lebanon", and would "continue to operate decisively against threats".

Israel says it reserves the right to respond militarily to imminent threats under the terms of the ceasefire.

An AFP correspondent reported that some people fled Beirut's southern suburbs -- a stronghold of Hezbollah that has been repeatedly bombed during the war -- after Netanyahu's statement.

- Explosion in Khiam -

US President Donald Trump had announced on Thursday that a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon that began on April 17 had been extended for three weeks.

Tehran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

The NNA reported Israeli artillery shelling on several south Lebanon locations on Saturday.

It also reported a "violent explosion" in Khiam, a strategic town along the east of Lebanon's border with Israel where the agency has previously said the Israeli army has been "systematically" destroying houses and other buildings.

An AFP correspondent saw a huge cloud of smoke billowing over the town.

Israel's military on Saturday reissued a warning to residents not to return to dozens of south Lebanon locations within the so-called "yellow line", which demarcates a ribbon of Lebanese territory around 10 kilometres (six miles) wide running along the length of the border.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,496 people in Lebanon since March 2, according to authorities.

On Friday, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayad said the group maintained the right to respond to any Israeli aggression, adding that extending the ceasefire "makes no sense" in light of the continued "hostile acts".