Two killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - BEIRUT — The Israeli military carried out an airstrike in south Lebanon on Friday, killing two people it said were armed and “moving in a suspicious manner” in an area where it is fighting Hezbollah.

Israel and the Iran-backed group have been regularly trading fire in the country’s south despite a ceasefire, which was extended by Israeli and Lebanese authorities last week.

“A short while ago, IDF surveillance identified two armed individuals moving in a suspicious manner hundreds of meters from Israeli territory, in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military posted on Telegram.

“Following their identification and continuous monitoring by the IDF, the armed individuals were struck and eliminated in an aerial strike,” the post said.

Israeli air strikes killed at least 21 people in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to the country's health ministry and media.

Twelve of them, including three children and three women, were killed in a single attack on a house in the town of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The Israeli military said it struck "a Hezbollah terrorist in a structure used for military purposes" in the area, referring to the Iran-backed, Shia Islamist armed group.

One Israeli soldier was killed on Tuesday as Hezbollah attacked forces occupying parts of southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said 10 IDF soldiers were wounded, including two seriously, in two separate explosive drone attacks launched by Hezbollah on troops operating in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

In one of the incidents, the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, Col. Meir Biderman, 41, was seriously wounded by an explosive drone, the IDF said.

Since a truce began on April 17, Israel has continued to launch strikes, carry out demolitions and issue evacuation orders in south Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah, which has also kept up attacks.

Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on March 2 in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel responded with a massive series of airstrikes and a ground invasion in the country’s south, where its troops are operating inside an Israeli-declared “yellow line” running around 10 kilometers inside Lebanon along the border.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday that Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,089 people since the wider regional war began.

Israel’s military has reported the death of 22 personnel during the fighting.

Last week the fragile temporary truce was extended for 45 days following a third round of direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli representatives in Washington, discussions that Hezbollah staunchly opposes.