The Israeli attack comes as residents of Lebanon’s southern district prepare to vote in the city’s election on Saturday.
Lebanon Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the wave of Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon and called on the international community to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire that reached with Lebanon’s group Hezbollah in November.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said on Thursday that Israeli forces attacked the building in the town of Tours in the Nabatier province. The Army had previously warned residents to evacuate areas around the buildings that Hezbollah said they had used.
Lebanese media also reported Israeli artillery fires in the towns of Suyod, Turin, Savannah and Rihan.
In a statement, Salam’s office said the Israeli attacks would come at a “dangerous” time just days before local elections in Lebanon’s southern districts on Saturday.
The contest is expected to be ruled by Hezbollah and its allies, and concerns have risen about voter safety, especially in border towns amid continuing Israeli occupation in parts of southern Lebanon.
“Prime Minister Salam emphasizes that these violations do not interfere with the state’s commitment to holding elections and protecting Lebanese and Lebanese people,” his office said in a statement.
As part of the November ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back north of the Ritani River and dismantle military infrastructure south of that border.
Israel was to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon, but maintains its troops in parts of southern Lebanon. They argue that they must maintain their presence there for “strategic” reasons.
The armistice was based on a resolution by the UN Security Council that Lebanese forces and UN peacekeepers should be the only people who will lay arms in southern Lebanon, calling for disarmament of all non-state groups.
On Thursday, Israeli forces said their forces carried out several strikes targeting Hezbollah sites, killing one fighter jet in the southern Lebanon town of Love El Tarachin.
Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the Israeli military’s claims.
Separately, the shepherd was injured in another Israeli attack nearby, the NNA reported.
Israeli forces said their forces “raided Hezbollah’s grounds, which contain rocket launchers and weapons,” in Bekaa Valley in northeastern Lebanon.
The NNA described Israeli attacks as the heaviest since the ceasefire was implemented.
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