BEIRUT (AP) - Three Israeli drone strikes targeted vehicles just south of Beirut on Saturday, killing four people, while multiple airstrikes in southern Lebanon claimed at least 13 lives, including a father and his 12-year-old daughter, according to state media and the Health Ministry.

These three drone strikes south of Beirut highlight ongoing escalations despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that began on April 17. Both sides have persisted with near-daily operations in violation of the truce.

Earlier on Wednesday night, Israel's air force struck a southern suburb, claiming the life of a top Hezbollah military commander. That incident marked the initial attack near the capital since the ceasefire agreement.

Two of Saturday's strikes occurred on the highway connecting Beirut to the southern port of Sidon, injuring several individuals, while the third targeted a road to Lebanon's Chouf region, resulting in three fatalities, reported the state-run National News Agency.

An Associated Press reporter on site witnessed a body on the highway in Saadiyat town.

The Health Ministry reported that an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven people, including a child, and injured 15 others. Officials noted this as a preliminary tally.

The news agency detailed additional strikes across southern Lebanon, such as one in Bourj Rahhal that killed three and another in Maifadoun that took one life.

Separately, the Health Ministry stated that three Israeli drone strikes killed a Syrian man riding a motorcycle with his 12-year-old daughter in Nabatiyeh city.

According to the ministry, following the first strike, the pair fled the area but faced a second drone attack that killed the father instantly. The wounded girl moved roughly 100 meters before a third strike hit her. She succumbed to her injuries in hospital, per NNA.

The Ministry of Public Health condemned the "barbaric targeting and deliberate violence against civilians and children in Lebanon," describing the incident as part of a pattern of "grave violations of International Humanitarian Law."

The Israeli military reported that Hezbollah launched explosive drones into Israel near the Lebanon border, wounding three soldiers - one seriously. It also noted Hezbollah drones fired within Lebanon, one striking an Israeli vehicle without casualties.

Hezbollah took responsibility for several internal Lebanese attacks and a drone strike on an Israeli post in the northern town of Misgav Am.

The current Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted on March 2 when Hezbollah rocketed northern Israel, shortly after U.S. and Israeli operations against Iran, Hezbollah's primary supporter. Israel responded with hundreds of airstrikes and a ground offensive into southern Lebanon, seizing numerous border towns and villages.

Subsequently, Lebanon and Israel conducted their first direct negotiations in over 30 years, despite their formal state of war since Israel's 1948 establishment.

Fresh talks are set for Washington over two days beginning Thursday.

A 10-day Washington-brokered ceasefire started April 17 and was extended by three weeks.

In Damascus, Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Saturday with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to discuss enhanced bilateral ties and security collaboration amid regional conflicts.

Addressing reporters before departing, Salam affirmed Lebanon would no longer serve to harm "our Arab brothers, foremost Syria." This alluded to Hezbollah's role in Syria's 2011 civil war supporting the Assad regime, which fell in December 2024.