BEIRUT, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Friday called for "maximum pressure on Israel" to halt its ongoing attacks across various regions of Lebanon.

In a statement issued by his media office, Salam condemned Israel's latest strike, saying, "Once again, Israel targets the peace of the night, this time in the 'southern capital.'"

He described the attack on Sidon, a major city in the south, as a blatant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a clear breach of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the security arrangements aimed at halting hostilities.

Salam stressed the need for "the strongest possible pressure on Israel to compel it to stop its continued attacks, especially on residential areas," emphasizing that "a complete halt to military operations is necessary."

The statement came after an Israeli drone strike at dawn on Friday killed senior Hamas commander Hassan Farhat and two of his children, Hamza and Janan, in his apartment in central Sidon.

The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the assassination, announcing in a statement that it had "eliminated Hassan Farhat, head of Hamas' western sector in Lebanon, in an airstrike on Sidon."

Farhat was accused of involvement in launching rockets toward the northern Israeli city of Safed, which resulted in the death of a female soldier and the injury of several others on Feb. 14, 2024, according to the Israeli statement.

This marks the second assassination of a Hamas leader in Sidon since a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon took effect in November last year. On Feb. 17, near the northern entrance of the city, an Israeli airstrike killed Mohammad Shaheen, who was identified as head of the operations department of Hamas in Lebanon.

The latest airstrike also followed another Israeli strike days ago in Beirut's southern suburbs, which killed Hassan Ali Mahmoud Bdeir, an operative affiliated with Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force.

Despite the U.S.- and French-brokered ceasefire effective since Nov. 27, 2024, Israeli forces have periodically carried out strikes inside Lebanon, ranging from machine gun fire and artillery shelling to air raids, some of which have resulted in casualties, according to official Lebanese reports.

Although the agreement stipulated the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory, Israel has maintained a presence on five hilltops along the Lebanese border. Enditem

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