Lebanon says Israeli strike on south kills 4, including 3 women
Israel said it struck a car after identifying ‘4 suspects’ who posed a threat near the area its forces occupy in southern Lebanon
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country’s south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
The Israeli military said on Monday that it identified “four suspects” approaching the area its forces occupy in southern Lebanon who posed a threat and so “conducted a precise strike in order to remove the threat”.
Israel has kept up intermittent strikes on south Lebanon, particularly in the Nabatieh area, despite the two-week-old truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives.
Both sides accuse the other of violating the ceasefire.
A lawmaker for Hezbollah, Ihab Hamade, denounced Monday’s strike as “a heinous crime against civilians” and blamed it “first and foremost” on the Lebanese state.
His movement has been highly critical of an agreement signed last month by Lebanon and Israel aiming to pave the way for a permanent end to hostilities.