“A Mother and Two Children Among 12 Killed in Israeli Attacks on Lebanon Today as Ceasefire Frays”

Today was another brutal day along Lebanon’s southern border. Health officials say Israeli attacks killed at least 12 people, including a mother and her two young children. The violence comes as tensions between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah explode again, and a fragile ceasefire that was barely holding on now looks like it could completely collapse.

In the past few days, Israeli forces have crossed the Litani River in southern Lebanon, a military official told CNN. That river is a key boundary under the ceasefire agreement, so crossing it is a major breach. Meanwhile, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Hezbollah has hit several of its bases with drones recently. The UN is pleading with both sides Hezbollah and Israel to steer clear of their positions.

Elsewhere in the region, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, made a sharp statement yesterday, telling Gulf Arab states they need to “pick a side” between Israel and Iran. He argued that the war has already shown how beneficial it is to normalize ties with Israel.

In Iran, human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was temporarily released from custody today, according to her daughter. She’d been detained by security forces for over a month. Meanwhile, more than 100 Nobel Prize winners warned that activist Narges Mohammadi could suffer “irreversible harm” if Iran keeps delaying her specialized medical care.

On a different note, a Chinese flagged supertanker successfully made it through the Strait of Hormuz and is now in the Gulf of Oman, according to tracking data.