BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli drone strike on a southern town killed one person on Tuesday, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
On Monday, Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killed 11 people, according to updated ministry figures, the deadliest raids since the ceasefire took effect last Wednesday. Both sides have accused the other of repeated violations.
“An Israeli enemy drone strike on the town of Shebaa killed one person,” a health ministry statement said.
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The state-run National News Agency (NNA) described the dead man as a “shepherd”.
The ministry had said Monday’s strikes killed six people in the village of Haris, four in Tallousa and one in Jdeidet Marjayoun.
The Israeli military said it had “struck Hezbollah , dozens of launchers, and infrastructure throughout Lebanon”, after Hezbollah earlier on Monday claimed its first attack on an Israeli position since the truce took effect.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that “if we return to war, we will act with greater force and penetrate deeper and… there will be no immunity for the state of Lebanon.”
“Until now, we made a distinction between Lebanon and Hezbollah… it will no longer be the case,” he said during a tour of Israel’s northern border.
Also on Tuesday, Lebanon’s army command began a recruitment with Prime Minister Najib Mikati saying the military was expanding in order to deploy more soldiers in the country’s south – a move key to implementing the ceasefire.
Mikati said “ongoing diplomatic contacts intensified yesterday to stop Israeli violations of the ceasefire” and to ensure Israel withdraws its troops from Lebanese territory.
A government official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that Beirut was aiming to recruit an additional 6,000 soldiers in the south, starting with 1,500 in an initial phase.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), meanwhile urged “all actors” to abide by the “letter and spirit” of a UN resolution whose implementation is part of the truce.
A UNIFIL statement said peacekeeper chief Aroldo Lazaro met US Major General Jasper Jeffers and US Ambassador Lisa Johnson, to discuss “efforts to help restore stability”.
Jeffers, who arrived in Lebanon last week, will co-chair a five-party committee involving the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL, to maintain communication between the parties and ensure ceasefire violations are identified and dealt with.
Jeffers’s French counterpart is expected to arrive this week to kickstart the committee’s work, a Western diplomat told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
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