BEIRUT: At least five people were killed by an Israeli drone strike on southern Lebanon on Sunday, including three children, the Lebanese health ministry said, with the president denouncing it as a “massacre”.
The state-run National News Agency reported that the strike, near Bint Jbeil, had targeted a motorcycle.
The Israeli military later said it had “struck and eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist in the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon.
“The terrorist operated from within a civilian population and in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” it added.
“As a result of the strike, several uninvolved civilians were killed. The IDF (military) regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible,” it continued, adding that “the incident is under review”.
Israel launches frequent strikes inside Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah, despite a November ceasefire meant to end more than a year of hostilities between them.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike as a “massacre” and called on the international community to press Israel to respect the ceasefire.
Israel strikes five towns in south Lebanon
“As we are in New York to discuss matters of peace and human rights, Israel continues its ongoing violations of international resolutions,” Aoun said, according to a presidency statement on X.
He accused Israel of “committing a new massacre in Bint Jbeil, which claimed the lives of five martyrs, including three children”.
The president was in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
“We call on the international community, whose leaders are present in the halls of the United Nations, to exert every effort to stop violations of international resolutions,” he added.
He further called on countries “to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory and abide by” the ceasefire agreement.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had earlier denounced the strikes as a “deliberate crime against civilians”, in a post on X.
“The guarantor states of the ceasefire agreement should exercise the strongest pressure on Israel to immediately stop its aggressions, withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory and free detainees,” he said.
The November ceasefire is overseen by a committee including the United States and France, as well as Lebanon and Israel.
Israel has increased the number and frequency of its strikes in Lebanon this week.
On Thursday, the Israeli military said it had struck arms depots belonging to Hezbollah in several areas of southern Lebanon.
In the face of heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government is seeking to disarm Hezbollah.
Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has said the army will complete the disarmament of the group in the border area within three months.
The army said Thursday’s strikes took Israeli violations of the ceasefire to 4,500 and warned they risked slowing down Hezbollah’s disarmament.
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