In a statement, the Iran-backed group said its fighters targeted the Ya’ara barracks with what it described as “a swarm of attack drones” after earlier announcing several operations against Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon near the border area.

The reported strike comes amid ongoing clashes that have persisted since fighting escalated on March 2, undermining efforts to stabilize the border despite ceasefire arrangements aimed at limiting further escalation between the two sides.

Hezbollah said Israeli troops remained deployed in areas of southern Lebanon close to the frontier, where exchanges of fire and military operations have continued in recent weeks.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Hezbollah’s reported drone attack or claims regarding operations near the Ya’ara barracks in northern Israel.

Cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel have intensified alongside broader regional tensions linked to conflicts involving Iran-backed groups across the Middle East, raising concerns about a wider confrontation along Israel’s northern frontier.

The Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP) said the reduction would lower the number of Syrians receiving emergency food aid from 1.3 million people to 650,000. The agency said 7.2 million people in Syria continue to face acute food insecurity even after conditions stabilized following the end of the country’s civil war.

WFP said the cuts were driven entirely by financial constraints rather than improving humanitarian conditions. The agency added that it required $189 million over the next six months to maintain and restore assistance operations in Syria.

“The reduction in WFP’s assistance is driven solely by funding constraints, not by a decrease in needs,” Marianne Ward, WFP director in Syria, said in a statement issued by the agency.

Ward described the current period as a fragile stage in Syria’s recovery, warning that the withdrawal of food assistance would remove a critical safety net for vulnerable communities.

As part of its food support operations, WFP said it had been supplying fortified wheat flour to more than 300 bakeries across Syria under a bread subsidy initiative designed to keep staple food prices affordable for low-income families.

“The bread subsidy program has been a vital lifeline, keeping this staple food affordable,” the agency said.
The funding shortfall is also affecting Syrian refugees in neighboring countries including Jordan and Lebanon, WFP said, as regional humanitarian programs face mounting financial pressure amid rising living costs and prolonged displacement.

“Across the region, vulnerable families are facing the cumulative effects of prolonged crises, rising costs, and shrinking assistance,” Samer Abdeljaber, WFP regional director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, said in the statement.

International humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that donor fatigue and competing global crises are straining relief operations in Syria and across the wider Middle East, where millions remain dependent on food assistance more than a decade after conflict erupted.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since the Iran conflict was paused on April 8, marking a 20% increase compared with the preceding five-week period.

Conflict monitor Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) reported that Israeli attacks in Gaza rose by 35% in April compared with March, reflecting a renewed military focus on the territory after Israel scaled back operations linked to Iran.

The escalation underscores mounting difficulties surrounding US President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire and advance reconstruction plans in Gaza following more than two years of conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“The war is still ongoing,” said Lafi Al-Najjar, a 36-year-old blind Palestinian whose son was killed in an Israeli strike on April 28. Speaking from a tent camp in the ruins of Khan Younis, Najjar said conditions on the ground had not reflected public declarations of de-escalation.

Israel’s military did not immediately comment publicly on the increased pace of strikes. However, four Israeli defense officials told Reuters that military leaders had recently warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that Hamas was tightening operational control, replenishing weapons supplies and rebuilding militant ranks.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the ceasefire arrangement permitted Israel to act against imminent threats. The official added that the military had prepared broader operational plans for a possible resumption of large-scale combat in Gaza, although no formal order had been issued.

The ceasefire agreement reached in October halted major fighting after two years of war but failed to produce a permanent political settlement.

Negotiations aimed at securing a full Israeli withdrawal, Hamas disarmament and reconstruction of Gaza have stalled.

Israeli forces continue to control more than half of Gaza’s territory, where extensive demolition has left large areas uninhabitable. More than 2 million Palestinians are concentrated in a narrow coastal zone, many sheltering in damaged buildings or temporary encampments.

Since the October ceasefire, around 850 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to figures that do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. During the same period, four Israeli soldiers were killed by militants in Gaza. Hamas has not released casualty figures for its fighters.

Several Israeli strikes since mid-April have targeted positions associated with Gaza’s Hamas-run police force. Palestinian health and police officials said at least 14 police personnel had been killed since April 14.

Nasser Khdour, a researcher at ACLED, said Israeli attacks during April targeted Hamas operatives, allied militant factions, police facilities and security checkpoints across areas under Hamas administration.
Khdour said drone strikes, artillery shelling and gunfire had also continued near armistice lines, affecting both militants and civilians approaching Israeli positions.

Since March, Israel has simultaneously expanded military operations beyond Gaza, joining US strikes against Iran while continuing air and ground campaigns against the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. Although hostilities in Lebanon have slowed under a separate US-mediated ceasefire, clashes have persisted intermittently.

Lebanon’s health ministry said three strikes hit the Saida-South coastal highway in the areas of Barja, Jiyeh and Saadiyat, resulting in eight fatalities. The ministry described the attacks as raids carried out by the “Israeli enemy.”

The Israeli military said it had launched a new wave of strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure across southern Lebanon, hours after issuing evacuation warnings to residents in several villages in the Tyre region.

“The IDF has begun striking Hezbollah terror infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli drones targeted two cars on the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon, while additional strikes hit vehicles in Saadiyat in the Chouf district and in the southern city of Sidon.

An AFP photographer at the scene near Jiyeh, roughly 20 kilometers south of Beirut, saw a charred vehicle on the roadside as emergency responders carried away a victim’s body.

The latest attacks followed similar strikes in the same area on Saturday and came amid continuing Israeli operations despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 17 to halt fighting with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

On Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said 13 people were killed in separate Israeli strikes on southern towns. The ministry added that at least 380 people had been killed since the truce began.

The Israeli military’s latest evacuation warnings signaled expectations of additional strikes in southern Lebanon, where intermittent hostilities have persisted despite diplomatic efforts to contain the conflict.

The violence comes ahead of a new round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel scheduled to take place in Washington on Thursday under US mediation.
Hezbollah has opposed the talks. The group’s leader, Naim Qassem, warned on Tuesday that Hezbollah would turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israel if attacks continued.
Since Hezbollah entered the broader regional conflict in early March, more than 2,800 people, including around 200 children, have been killed in Lebanon, according to figures released by the Lebanese health ministry.

The military identified the soldier as Sergeant Major Alexander Glovanyov, 47, who was killed on Sunday in fighting close to the Israel-Lebanon frontier.
His death brings the number of Israeli military personnel killed since the conflict with Hezbollah intensified in early March to 18, according to Israeli military figures. One Israeli civilian contractor has also been killed during the hostilities.

Fighting has continued in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement signed between Israel and Lebanon on April 17 that was intended to halt cross-border exchanges of fire and reduce the risk of a broader regional escalation.

Hezbollah entered the conflict on March 2 after launching rockets into Israel, saying the attacks were retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, according to statements from the group.

Israel responded with extensive airstrikes and later expanded operations into a ground campaign in southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces are currently operating behind what the military describes as a “yellow line,” an Israeli-declared security zone extending roughly 10 kilometers north of Lebanon’s border.

The latest casualty announcement came as smoke was seen rising from areas in southern Lebanon following reported Israeli airstrikes targeting the village of Choukine, according to AFP images from the region.

The ongoing exchanges have heightened concerns that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could evolve into a wider regional confrontation involving Iran and allied armed groups across the Middle East.

Diplomatic efforts led by international mediators have so far failed to fully enforce the ceasefire or secure a durable de-escalation along the volatile frontier.

The confrontation marked the latest escalation in a 10-week war that began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and has since destabilized shipping lanes, disrupted oil exports and widened hostilities across the Middle East.U.S. Central Command said an F/A-18 Super Hornet used precision-guided munitions against the two vessels to prevent them from continuing toward Iranian waters through the Gulf of Oman, a strategic maritime corridor connected to the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials condemned the attack as a breach of the ceasefire and accused Washington of undermining ongoing diplomatic efforts.An Iranian military official told local media that naval forces had “responded to the violation of the ceasefire and to American terrorism with strikes,” adding that the clashes had subsequently ended.

The incident followed renewed tensions overnight in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy transit chokepoint through which a significant share of global oil shipments passes. An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader compared strategic control of the strait to possessing “an atomic bomb.”U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Rome that Washington expected Tehran’s response later Friday to a new American proposal aimed at extending the truce to facilitate broader negotiations.

“It is unacceptable” for Iran to control the strategic waterway, Rubio told reporters, expressing hope Tehran would present “a serious offer.”At the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration anticipated receiving a formal Iranian response by nightfall.“I’m getting a letter supposedly tonight, so we’ll see how that goes,” Trump said.

According to regional officials, Washington delivered the latest ceasefire proposal through Pakistani mediators, seeking an extension of the Gulf truce to create space for negotiations over a permanent settlement.Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the proposal remained “under review,” according to the ISNA news agency.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Irvani, submitted a letter to the U.N. Security Council accusing the United States of violating the ceasefire through the tanker strikes.In Washington, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met U.S. Vice President JD Vance to discuss Pakistani-led mediation efforts aimed at securing a lasting peace arrangement.

Satellite imagery released Friday indicated an expanding oil slick off Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s principal oil export terminal. Monitoring firm Orbital EOS estimated the spill covered more than 20 square miles off the island’s western coastline, though the cause was not immediately determined.

Kharg Island remains central to Iran’s oil export infrastructure and sits north of the Strait of Hormuz, where commercial shipping disruptions since February have contributed to heightened volatility in global energy markets.Iran largely closed the strait following the outbreak of war on Feb. 28, prompting sharp increases in oil prices and renewed security deployments by Western naval forces.

The United States later imposed a maritime blockade targeting Iranian ports.Trump earlier this week announced a naval initiative aimed at reopening the strait to commercial traffic before reversing course in favor of renewed diplomacy.On a parallel front in Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said it launched missiles toward an Israeli military base near Nahariya in response to Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.

Hours later, Hezbollah announced a separate drone attack targeting another Israeli base in the north.Israel has continued operations against Hezbollah despite an existing ceasefire agreement. On Wednesday, Israeli forces carried out their first strike in a month on Beirut’s southern suburbs, saying a senior Hezbollah commander had been killed.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes in the south killed 10 people on Friday, including women and children, while Lebanon’s civil defense agency said one of its personnel was also killed.The escalation comes ahead of planned direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington next week, talks Hezbollah has publicly opposed.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said the evacuation order was issued in response to what Israel described as repeated Hezbollah violations of the truce agreement that took effect in mid-April.“In light of the terrorist Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to act against it forcefully,” Adraee said in a statement posted on X.Residents were instructed to leave their homes and move at least 1,000 meters away from the affected villages into open areas for their safety, the statement said.

The warning came as fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group continued to intensify across southern Lebanon, with both sides exchanging fire almost daily despite the ceasefire arrangement.Earlier Saturday, the Israeli military said it had targeted more than 85 Hezbollah infrastructure sites over the previous 24 hours through aerial and ground operations.

According to the military, the strikes hit weapons storage facilities, missile launchers and structures allegedly used by Hezbollah to conduct attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.Israel also said it struck an underground Hezbollah weapons production facility in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley and targeted militants accused of conducting operations against Israeli troops deployed in southern Lebanon.

On Friday, Hezbollah announced missile and drone attacks against Israeli military bases in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and continued attacks in southern Lebanon.Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes killed 11 people in southern Lebanon on Friday.

The latest escalation underscores the fragility of the ceasefire reached earlier this year after months of cross-border clashes that expanded alongside the broader regional conflict involving Israel, Iran and allied armed groups.

Israel and Lebanon remain formally at war, although indirect diplomatic efforts backed by international mediators have sought to prevent wider regional escalation.

Hadja Lahbib said after talks with Joseph Aoun in Beirut that more than three million people across Lebanon currently depend on aid.“At present, more than three million people, meaning more than half of the population here in Lebanon, depend on humanitarian aid to survive,” Lahbib told reporters.

The comments underscore the growing humanitarian toll of the conflict that erupted on March 2 between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, displacing more than one million people and placing severe strain on Lebanon’s already fragile economy and public services.

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli strikes since early March have killed more than 2,700 people. Israel has continued military operations in Lebanon despite a ceasefire aimed at halting the two-month war.

Lahbib said the European Union had allocated 100 million euros ($108 million) in assistance since the start of the conflict and dispatched six humanitarian aid flights to Lebanon, with another expected on Saturday.

The United Nations launched an emergency appeal in March seeking $308 million for humanitarian operations in Lebanon. U.N. agencies say only $126 million has been secured so far, leaving critical funding gaps for food, shelter and medical assistance.

Lahbib described the ceasefire as “a narrow window of hope” but said a sustainable peace would require action from both sides.She called on Hezbollah to halt attacks and disarm, while urging Israel to end its bombardment campaign.

“For a ceasefire to lead to peace, courage is needed political courage to address the root causes of this conflict,” Lahbib said.Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting are continuing, with Israel and Lebanon expected to hold a third round of talks in Washington next week despite Hezbollah’s opposition to direct negotiations with Israel.

The clips, many circulated through social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Telegram, show soldiers inside damaged homes and villages handling personal belongings, damaging property and posing for videos during military operations in southern Lebanon.

One widely shared image showed an Israeli soldier placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in the Christian town of Debel. The Israeli military later confirmed the soldier had been identified and said disciplinary measures would be taken, describing the conduct as inconsistent with military values.

Another video from the same town appeared to show a soldier striking a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer, prompting criticism internationally and within Israel.Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “stunned and saddened” by the incident, while the Israeli military said it viewed the act with “great severity” and would pursue “appropriate measures.”

The controversy intensified after Israeli newspaper Haaretz⁠ published testimonies from soldiers and commanders alleging widespread looting by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

One soldier cited in the report said theft increased after military checkpoints were removed from certain areas.Another Israeli publication, Yedioth Ahronoth⁠, quoted a reservist alleging that troops took personal items including jewelry, blankets and photographs from homes near the Lebanese border.

The reports prompted a public warning from Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, who ordered commanders to investigate incidents involving looting and social media posts by soldiers. Zamir said such behavior damaged the reputation of the Israeli military and instructed that potential criminal violations be referred to military police.

Human rights organizations and legal analysts say the growing volume of online material shared by combatants is reshaping the documentation of alleged wartime abuses, with soldiers increasingly recording and distributing footage themselves rather than such evidence emerging solely through witness accounts or later investigations.

Under international humanitarian law, pillage and destruction of civilian property during armed conflict are prohibited. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention bans pillage, while the International Criminal Court classifies pillaging during armed conflict as a potential war crime under the Rome Statute.

The incidents come as Israeli strikes continue across parts of Lebanon despite a temporary ceasefire announced on April 17. Israel says its operations target Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure, while Lebanese officials and humanitarian groups report extensive civilian damage and displacement.

Ori Goldberg told Arab News that Israeli society was facing a broader moral and political crisis over the conduct of the war, though he predicted accountability would likely remain limited to lower-ranking personnel.Residents returning to damaged communities in southern Lebanon described feelings of humiliation and violation extending beyond physical destruction.

A Lebanese resident identified only as Ali told Arab News that the looting of personal belongings carried emotional consequences that could not easily be repaired.

conflict

The Lebanon Civil Defense said in a statement that one of its rescuers was killed after an Israeli strike targeted him on a road connecting two towns in southern Lebanon.The organization said the attack occurred despite a truce that remains formally in effect between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The incident came one day after another strike killed a rescuer affiliated with the Islamic Health Committee, according to Lebanese authorities.Israel has continued carrying out strikes across parts of Lebanon following weeks of conflict that began on March 2, saying its operations target Hezbollah fighters and military infrastructure.

On May 6, Israeli forces struck Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in nearly a month, killing what Israel described as a senior Hezbollah commander from the group’s elite Radwan force.The continuing attacks have intensified concerns among humanitarian agencies over the safety of medical and rescue personnel operating in conflict zones.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier this week that the World Health Organization had verified 152 attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel in Lebanon since the conflict began.According to Tedros, those attacks resulted in 103 deaths and 241 injuries.International humanitarian law provides special protections for medical workers, emergency responders and healthcare infrastructure during armed conflicts.

Rights organizations have repeatedly called for investigations into attacks involving rescue and medical personnel in Lebanon and Gaza.