An Israeli drone strike killed five people, including three children, in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil on Sunday, Lebanon’s health ministry reported.

Israel has frequently targeted what it calls Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon since a US-brokered truce between Lebanon and Israel took effect in November. This truce followed more than a year of conflict sparked by the war in Gaza.

According to Lebanon’s state news agency, the strike hit a motorbike and a vehicle, wounding two others. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri stated that a father and his three children were among the dead, with the mother wounded. He added that the family held US citizenship.

The Israeli military confirmed that it killed a Hezbollah member in the strike but acknowledged that “several uninvolved civilians were killed.” In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expressed regret over any harm caused to uninvolved individuals and said it operates to minimize such harm as much as possible. The incident is currently under review.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attack in a post on X, describing it as a “blatant crime against civilians and a message of intimidation aimed at our people returning to their villages in the south.”

Lebanon is under pressure from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Hezbollah’s domestic rivals to disarm the Iranian-backed group. However, Hezbollah has stated that discussing disarmament would be a serious misstep while Israel continues airstrikes on Lebanon and occupies swaths of territory in the south.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/update-2-israeli-drone-strikes-kill-five-including-children-in-southern-lebanon-1809505.html