One killed in Israeli strike in south Lebanon
Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli drone strike in the south killed one person on Saturday, the latest deadly raid despite a more than two-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“An Israeli enemy drone strike… killed one person” in Marjayoun district, the health ministry said in a statement. The official National News Agency said a vehicle was hit.
Earlier, the Israeli military said the air force “struck a loaded and ready-to-use launcher aimed at Israel in violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon.” It did not specify where the strike took place.
A ceasefire came into effect between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah on November 27 but both sides have accused the other of repeated violations, with Lebanon reporting multiple deadly Israeli strikes, including five people killed on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said on Monday that four of its soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon, the first deaths it had announced in the area since the ceasefire.
On Saturday, the NNA said the “enemy… carried out detonations in the town of Kfar Kila” near the border, also reporting the sound of explosions and automatic weapons fire “from Israeli soldiers” in frontier village Mais al-Jabal.
It said the Lebanese army was inspecting villages and detonating munitions “left behind by the Israeli aggression” in Tyre district.
Under the terms of the truce, the Lebanese army is to deploy in south Lebanon alongside UN peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdraws over a period of 60 days.
Hezbollah is required to withdraw its forces north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in the south.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces conducted a first withdrawal from a south Lebanon town – Khiam – and were replaced by Lebanese troops, the US military’s Central Command said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the town was hit by an Israeli strike on Thursday which killed one person.
