lations on Thursday, accusing the group of refusing to disarm in accordance with an agreement reached last year. Israel has carried out near-daily strikes despite the truce, and Hezbollah has said that it is committed to the ceasefire agreement but will not disarm so long as Israel continues to routinely attack Lebanese territory. “What Israel committed today in southern Lebanon constitutes a full-fledged crime under international humanitarian law, which criminalises the targeting, terrorising, and forced displacement of civilians,” Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement. “Nearly a year has passed since the ceasefire took effect, and during that period Israel has spared no effort in showing its rejection of any negotiated settlement between the two countries,” he added. The barrage on Thursday came soon after a separate Israeli raid targeted southern Lebanon’s Tyre district. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that a Lebanese man was killed and eight others wounded in the town of Toura, where Israeli warplanes struck residential areas. Another man was additionally injured in attacks on Tayr Debba, also in the Tyre District, according to NNA. “These strikes have been happening near daily for a year now, since that ceasefire came into force,” Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr reported from Beirut. “But today it is being seen as an escalation, especially since it’s coming just hours after Hezbollah released an open letter to the country’s leadership and to the Lebanese people. These strikes are being seen as a message from Israel to Hezbollah.” An Israeli warplane was also reported to fly at a low altitude over Beirut’s southern suburbs, an Israeli practice seen as a form of intimidation. The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said that Israel’s strikes threaten civilians and undermine efforts by the Lebanese military to assert control over “unathorized weapons and infrastructure” in southern Lebanon, a likely reference to Hezbollah. The United States has pressured Lebanon to do more to disarm the group, but has done little to discourage Israel’s near-constant ceasefire violations. “Any military action, especially on such a destructive scale, threatens the safety of civilians and undermines the progress being made toward a political and diplomatic solution,” UNIFIL said. The attacks come as Hezbollah issued a firm rejection of any political negotiations with Israel, saying such talks would “not serve the national interest”. The statement followed mounting pressure from the US and Egypt for Lebanon to begin direct dialogue with Israel, the AFP news agency reported. Al Jazeera could not independently verify those claims. “We reaffirm our legitimate right to defend ourselves against an enemy that imposes war on our country and does not cease its attacks,” Hezbollah said, referring to ongoing Israeli air raids despite a ceasefire agreed to in November 2024. Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war, with communication limited to a United Nations-backed monitoring mechanism involving France and the US. The two sides meet separately under UN auspices but do not engage in direct talks.