Hezbollah support endures in south Lebanon as ceasefire fails to stop war with Israel

Hezbollah support endures in south Lebanon as ceasefire fails to stop war with Israel5 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleHugo BachegaMiddle East correspondent, Southern LebanonNeha Sharma/BBCThe air strike in Saksakiyeh killed nine members of the same displaced family, relatives saidLast Saturday an Israeli air strike, at lunchtime and without warning, destroyed a building where a family displaced by the war were sheltering in a town in southern Lebanon called Saksakiyeh. A ceasefire, announced last month, has failed to stop the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim armed group. In this part of the country, Israel's attacks come day and night.When I arrived, rescuers had already ended their search. At the top of the rubble a man looked at the devastation in silence. Neighbours had recovered a kids' bicycle, damaged, and a purple teddy bear, which was covered with dust.Nine people were killed there. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah members who were operating from a building that was being used for military purposes, and that they had posed an "immediate threat". It did not give details. Relatives said the victims were a woman in her 70s, a son and his wife, another son, her four grandchildren, and her great-granddaughter, who was two years old. (The Israeli military said it was "reviewing reports regarding harm to uninvolved civilians".)As the sun set, I was told by residents to leave. "That's when things get active in the sky," one of them said.Southern Lebanon is the heartland of the country's Shia community, from which Hezbollah gets most of its support, and has been under constant Israeli bombardment. And Hezbollah, the militia and political party backed by Iran, has carried out rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel and against Israeli troops that invaded during the war and remain in Lebanon.I visited towns and villages in Lebanon's south in the past two w...