Israeli strikes kill three in Lebanon before army targets UN patrol
Israeli strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon left three dead, despite a ceasefire in force for almost a year, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
Lebanese authorities initially announced that two people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, but revised the toll after a new strike.
Two of the victims died in the Baalbek region in the east of the country, while the third was killed in Naqoura in the southern province of Tire.
The Health Ministry said a Syrian national was among the victims after being struck in the town of al-Hafir in Baalbek.
The Israeli army said it targeted members of Hezbollah.
In a statement, he said he had killed Ali Hussein al-Mousawi in eastern Lebanon.
Al-Mousawi “purchased and transferred weapons from Syria to Lebanon” and “played an important role in the reestablishment and strengthening of Hezbollah,” the Israeli military claimed.
It added that Abed Mahmoud al-Sayed, a local Hezbollah representative in the village of Ras Biyyada, was killed in the Naquoura attack.
There has been no confirmation from Hezbollah regarding the alleged deaths.
“We’re not looking for anyone’s approval.”
The latest deaths come 11 months after a ceasefire ended fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
However, speaking on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that his country would not seek approval from Lebanon or Gaza, although it had agreed to a ceasefire in both cases.
“Israel is an independent state. We will defend ourselves on our own and we will continue to determine our fate,” Netanyahu told government ministers.
“We are not seeking anyone’s approval for this. We control our security,” he added.
His comments came hours before the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has operated in southern Lebanon since 1978, announced that an Israeli drone had dropped a grenade near one of its patrols near Kfar Kila on Sunday afternoon.
An Israeli tank then fired one shot, UNIFIL added, but its personnel were not injured nor their property damaged.
The Israeli attacks “violate Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s sovereignty, and demonstrate a disregard for the safety and security of peacekeepers carrying out Security Council-mandated tasks in southern Lebanon,” UNIFIL said in a statement on X.
Last week, a group of UN experts expressed concern over Israel’s continued strikes in Lebanon.
“These attacks have led to increasing numbers of civilian deaths and injuries, as well as destruction and damage to infrastructure, housing, the environment and agricultural areas vital to civilian livelihoods,” they said.
Under the terms of the November 2024 ceasefire, Israel was supposed to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon by January 2025. However, its troops still remain present in five border outposts that Israel considers strategic.
