Lebanon says two killed in Israeli strikes on south

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed two people on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with Israel saying it had targeted members of Hezbollah. (AFP)

• Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed two people on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with Israel saying it had targeted members of Hezbollah

BERIUT: Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed two people on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with Israel saying it had targeted members of Hezbollah.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that followed more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed militant group that culminated in two months of open war.
The health ministry said in a statement that an “Israeli drone strike” on an excavator in Yater killed one person.
It also reported a separate air strike on Deir Aames, which killed one person and wounded another.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had killed Mahmud Ali Issa in Deir Aames, alleging he was “responsible for the financial and military connections between Hezbollah and the residents of the village.”
It also said it killed a Hezbollah member who “operated an engineering vehicle in the Zibqin area,” near Yater, accusing him of trying to “reestablish Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites.”
Israel carries out strikes in southern Lebanon on a near-daily basis, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah.
The United Nations said last week it had verified the deaths of 103 civilians in Lebanon since the November truce, demanding a halt to the ongoing suffering.
Tuesday’s attacks follow an Israeli strike the day before that killed a man who had been previously wounded and lost his sight when Israel blew up hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members last year. The man’s wife was also killed in the strike.
Hezbollah, which was severely weakened by the war, faces a push to give up its arsenal.
Under intense US and Israeli pressure, Lebanon’s government is seeking to disarm the group, and the Lebanese army has drawn up a plan to do so beginning in the country’s south.