Israeli Airstrikes Kill 10 in Southern Lebanon; Strait of Hormuz Traffic Plummets

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that at least 10 individuals, including two children, were killed during overnight Israeli airstrikes in the country’s south. The attacks targeted a residential building in the village of Kfar Rumman and a vehicle carrying medics, injuring two others.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry attributed the strikes to Hezbollah, accusing the militant group of rebuilding military capabilities and embedding infrastructure within civilian areas in violation of the ceasefire agreement. The ministry stated on social media platform X that such violations would not be accepted. No immediate comment was released by Israel’s military regarding the specific operations.

In response to the escalating violence, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on Washington and the international community on Sunday to intervene and halt the attacks. Despite a peace deal taking effect over two months ago, border flare-ups between Israel and Hezbollah continue to persist.

Simultaneously, shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level since May, according to data analytics firm Kpler. An average of only 10 commodity vessels transited the critical waterway over the past 10 days, down from 15 on Friday and 13 on Saturday.

The decline follows a weekend of reciprocal strikes between the United States and Iran. US forces attacked three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian attacks on US warships, prompting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to target three commercial tankers it claimed were using unauthorized routes.

Maritime intelligence firm Marisks described the events as a major escalation, noting that commercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of economic pressure. The firm assessed the risk as extreme for Iranian-linked tonnage and materially elevated for US-linked or escorted shipping throughout the Strait and the Gulf of Oman.