An Israeli drone strike killed eight people early Wednesday when it hit a parked car outside two crowded cafés along the seaside promenade in Sidon, as Israel pressed ahead with operations against Hezbollah despite a ceasefire with Iran.

The pre-dawn strike set the vehicle ablaze and caused extensive damage to the surrounding area, where the cafés were filled with displaced residents from southern Lebanon. Ambulances rushed the dead and wounded to nearby hospitals, while Lebanese army units and security forces secured the scene. Fire crews worked to extinguish fires that broke out in the cafés.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the attack killed eight people and wounded 22 others in a preliminary toll. The victims were reported to be from the town of Shebaa.

Sources cited by Al-Hadath said the strike killed Maher Hamdan, a local commander in Hezbollah’s Resistance Brigades (Saraya al-Moqawama), along with two of his sons and several associates.

The strike came amid a sharp escalation in Israeli air and artillery attacks across southern Lebanon overnight and into the morning, with repeated targeting of vehicles and motorcycles.

Drone strikes hit a car on the Qasmiyeh road and a motorcycle in the town of Shaabiyeh. Another strike targeted a vehicle in the square of Blat, wounding the town’s mukhtar, Fouad Ramadan, and several others, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

A separate drone strike hit a motorcycle in Kfardounin in the Bint Jbeil district, while Israeli warplanes struck the town of Sawaneh. Israeli artillery also shelled the outskirts of Kafra and Majdal Selm.

Later in the morning, airstrikes hit the town of Sharqiyeh in the Nabatiyeh district, striking near al-Mahdi schools and severing the road linking Sharqiyeh to Nmairiyeh toward Zefta. Casualties were reported.

Additional strikes targeted Kfartabnit, a vehicle on the Siddiqine road, and another car in the Ras al-Ain al-Samaaiyeh area. Artillery fire also hit the areas of Haniyeh and Mansouri.

Earlier at dawn, an airstrike hit a building in the Jal al-Bahr area near Hiram Hospital, killing four people. Another strike targeted a site used by medics from the Islamic Health Authority in the town of Shaqra, wounding several people.

Further strikes were reported in Haddatha, Rab Thalathine, the Abbasiyeh area, Jmaijmeh, and Qana, where a drone strike on a motorcycle caused injuries.

In another incident, an airstrike near the Qlayleh junction hit an ambulance belonging to the Islamic Health Authority, killing four people in an initial toll.

The strike near Hiram Hospital in Tyre caused significant structural damage, including to patient rooms and the hospital’s entrance, which partially collapsed onto parked vehicles.

Airstrikes also hit Rayhan and Debbine, while in the western Bekaa, strikes were reported between Sohmor and Yahmar, as well as in Mashghara. Other locations hit included Srifa and Wadi Barghoz.

The escalation came as Israeli officials made clear that a recently announced two-week ceasefire with Iran does not cover Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the truce would not apply to the Lebanese front, and the military confirmed it would continue operations against Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah halted rocket fire toward northern Israel and Israeli forces in Lebanon early Wednesday as part of the Iran-related ceasefire, according to Lebanese sources cited by Reuters. 

“Hezbollah’s activities are forcing the army to act with force. The army does not intend to harm you,” Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a message on X, urging residents of Tyre, particularly in the Shabriha area, to evacuate immediately and move north of the Zahrani River.

Following the warning, Israeli aircraft struck the targeted building in Shabriha. The military has repeatedly issued evacuation orders in recent weeks covering large parts of southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold.

The Israeli military said it remains on high alert following the ceasefire with Iran but continues “fighting and ground operations” against Hezbollah in Lebanon.