Israel says struck Hezbollah operative in south Lebanon

Israel’s military said it carried out an airstrike targeting a member of Hezbollah in south Lebanon on Thursday, its latest attack on the country in recent days.

“A short while ago, an IAF (Israeli air force) aircraft struck a Hezbollah terrorist who operated” in the area of Alma al-Shaab, a military statement said.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that one person was wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the village near the border with Israel.

It had also reported two wounded in Bint Jbeil in south Lebanon by an Israeli drone strike that targeted a car.

An Israeli strike on Beirut on Tuesday killed a Hezbollah official handling Palestinian affairs, the second such raid since a November ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group.

The health ministry reported four dead in the strike, including a woman.

Israel and Hezbollah separately said the strike killed Hassan Bdair, who a source close to the Iran-backed group identified as its “deputy head for the Palestinian file.”

Israel also attacked the Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital’s south on Friday in response to rocket fire, after it issued an evacuation warning.

Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah spiraled into all-out conflict last September, and the group remains a target of Israeli airstrikes despite the November 27 ceasefire.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel was due to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems “strategic.”

The agreement also required Hezbollah to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

The Lebanese army has deployed in the south as the Israeli military pulled back.