BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said two people were killed Sunday in an Israeli strike on the country’s south, as Israel said it hit Hezbollah operatives amid a fragile truce.
The toll in the “strike launched by the Israeli enemy on the town of Zibqin rose to two dead,” the health ministry said in a statement, adding that the toll was final after earlier reporting one dead.
The Israeli military said it carried out an air strike targeting two Hezbollah operatives in the Zibqin area, adding in a statement that they were “attempting to rebuild Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites.”
A fragile ceasefire in late November largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, but Israel has continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon.
The latest raid came after visiting US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus discussed the situation in south Lebanon with senior officials on Saturday.
On Friday, Israel killed a commander of Palestinian militant group Hamas in a pre-dawn raid in the south Lebanese port city of Sidon that also killed his adult son and daughter.
A day earlier, Israel’s military said it carried out an air strike targeting a Hezbollah member in south Lebanon.
On Tuesday, Israel struck south Beirut, killing a Hezbollah Palestinian liaison officer, in only the second raid on the capital since the November 27 ceasefire.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported four dead in that strike, including a woman.
Under the truce, Hezbollah was to redeploy its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel was to withdraw its forces across the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border, but has missed two deadlines to do so and continues to hold five positions in south Lebanon that it deems “strategic.”
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