BEIRUT: An Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon on Friday killed one person, the Lebanese health ministry reported, with Israel saying it had targeted a man accused of helping smuggle weapons from Iran.
The attack was the latest in Lebanon despite a months-long ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah there.
In a statement, the health ministry said that an “Israeli enemy” drone strike on a car near al-Numairiya, in Nabatiyeh district, killed one person and wounded five others.
The Israeli military later said it had killed Mohammad Shoaib, whom it accused of having aided in the smuggling of weapons to Lebanon and the occupied West Bank.
Israeli drone kills one in south Lebanon: ministry
Israel has kept up regular strikes in Lebanon, particularly in the south, since a November 27 ceasefire meant to end over a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that left the group severely weakened.
Under the agreement, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border with Israel, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the area.
The ceasefire requires Israel to fully withdraw its troops, but it has kept them in five locations in south Lebanon that it deems strategic.
On Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that while he was open to peaceful relations with Israel, normalisation of ties was “not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy”.
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