Lebanon says Israeli strikes kill three

Lebanon’s health ministry said on Sunday that Israeli strikes on the country’s south and east had killed three people, despite an ongoing ceasefire deal, as Israel claimed it had targeted two members of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Officials said one person had been killed in an “Israeli enemy strike” on a car in Naqoura, in Tyre province, while another strike on a vehicle in Nabi Sheet, in the country’s eastern Baalbek region, resulted in another fatality.

Later, the health ministry said a further strike on the town of al-Hafir, also in the Baalbek area, resulted in the death of a Syrian national and an injury to another Syrian.

Despite a nearly year-long ceasefire, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon, often saying it is targeting Hezbollah positions.

In a statement on Sunday, the Israeli army said it had killed Ali Hussein al-Mousawi in eastern Lebanon, describing him as “a weapons dealer and smuggler on behalf of Hezbollah”.

The Israeli military said it had also killed a local Hezbollah representative it identified as Abd Mahmoud al-Sayed, in southern Lebanon.

Israel has intensified strikes in recent weeks, with several deadly attacks launched over the past few days.

Last week, a United Nations special rapporteur told AFP that deadly Israeli strikes on ostensibly civilian vehicles in Lebanon could amount to war crimes, despite Israel’s assertion they targeted Hezbollah members.

As part of last year’s ceasefire deal, Israeli troops were to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle any military infrastructure in the south.

Under US pressure and fearing an escalation of Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government has moved to begin disarming Hezbollah, a plan the movement and its allies oppose.

Despite the terms of the truce, Israel has kept troops deployed in five border points it deems strategic.