BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army said one person was killed and four soldiers wounded Monday in an Israeli strike in the country’s south, where a fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel came into force last month.
“The Israeli enemy targeted a car near the Saf al-Hawa/Bint Jbeil military checkpoint, killing a citizen and lightly wounding four soldiers,” the army said in a statement.
The official National News Agency reported that “enemy aircraft struck a car on the Saf al-Hawa road in Bint Jbeil near an army checkpoint, killing the driver, a civilian”.
Israel stepped up its campaign in south Lebanon in late September after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges begun by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas following the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
A ceasefire came into effect on November 27 and is generally holding, though both sides have accused the other of repeated violations.
As part of the agreement, the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers will deploy in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army withdraws over a period of 60 days.
Hezbollah is also meant to withdraw its forces north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army has repeatedly told Lebanese residents not to enter border areas, issuing another warning on Monday morning.
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Last Monday, Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killed 11 people, according to the country’s health ministry, shortly after Hezbollah claimed its first attack on an Israeli position since the truce began.
The same day, the Lebanese army in a statement said a soldier was wounded in an Israeli strike in the country’s eastern Hermel region.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said Wednesday the death toll in Lebanon in more than a year of war between Israel and Hezbollah had reached 4,047 people, most of them since a September escalation, including 316 children.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that “if we return to war, we will act with greater force and penetrate deeper” into Lebanon, adding that “there will be no immunity” for the Lebanese state, which was not a party to the Israel-Hezbollah war.
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