An Israeli drone struck a vehicle in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, southern Lebanon, on 6 July, killing at least four civilians who had gone to check the family home: a school principal, her mother, a foreign domestic worker and a Syrian national1. Israel named no combatant among the four dead, saying only that it continues to strike Hezbollah sites and fighters despite the ceasefire that began on 21 June, and issued no statement on this specific attack.
The truce that supposedly ended the fighting has not stopped it. Lebanese authorities put the cumulative toll from Israeli strikes since 2 March at 4,3002. The pattern runs back through the ceasefire itself: Israel struck Nabatieh and killed a Golani officer in late June, then hit ten Hezbollah sites after a clash at Bint Jbeil. Each incident is folded into the same standing justification, never a named target on the day.
For residents of the south the line between war and ceasefire has thinned to a technicality. The strikes continue, the casualty count climbs, and the front that was meant to be closed stays open while the sea lane to the east reignites the same night.
