Lebanon reports deadly strikes as Israel says responded to gunfire
Israel's defense minister said the military responded to stray gunfire from Lebanon Sunday, after Lebanese state media and the health ministry reported four deaths in Israeli strikes on the south.
"The Israeli enemy strike this evening on the town of Ainata led to the death of two people," Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said, citing the health ministry's emergency service.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz later said the military had targeted Ainata after "a stray bullet from a Hezbollah operative's funeral" hit the windshield of a vehicle in the northern Israeli community of Avivim.
"We will not allow shooting from Lebanese territory toward northern communities -- we will respond strongly to any violation of the ceasefire," Katz said.
The Israeli army later said that it attacked a headquarters of the Radwan force and Hezbollah buildings in south Lebanon, as a helicopter attacked Yaroun's outskirts for a second time.
Lebanese media reports said one of the strikes targeted the outskirts of the southern town of Ainata, killing two people, as an Israeli Apache helicopter bombed three prefabricated houses in the southern border town of Kfarkela.
Israel's military had earlier said that "a gunshot hit a parked vehicle in the area of Avivim. No injuries were reported. The shot most likely originated from Lebanese territory."
Earlier, Lebanon's health ministry confirmed one person was killed in an Israeli strike on Mais al-Jabal and the NNA reported one other fatality in Bint Jbeil.
The agency reported that an Israeli drone carried out "a strike on a vehicle in the town of Mais al-Jabal, resulting in one fatality."
The NNA said it was the third Israeli strike on southern Lebanon in 24 hours.
Earlier on Sunday, the health ministry said an Israeli drone strike killed one person and wounded another when it targeted a four-wheel-drive vehicle near Yater in Bint Jbeil district at around 2:00 am, the NNA reported.
"The Israeli enemy's air strike on a vehicle in the town of Yater resulted in the martyrdom of a citizen and the injury of another," the ministry said in a statement carried by the agency.
- Detainees released -
Israel's military said it killed two Hezbollah militants Sunday in two separate strikes on Lebanon.
"Earlier today, the IDF (Israeli army) struck and eliminated two Hezbollah terrorists who were surveillance operatives and took part in directing terror attacks in the area of Yatar and Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon," a statement said.
It comes a day after Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the southern border town of Burj al-Moulouk.
After that raid, the Israeli military said it "struck a Hezbollah terrorist who took part in terrorist activity in the area of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon."
And on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it carried out a strike in southern Lebanon that killed a senior Hezbollah militant.
That came as Lebanon received four detainees who had been taken to Israel after the war with Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, with a fifth detainee, a soldier, released on Thursday after he was taken earlier this month.
A November 27 truce largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war in which Israel sent in ground troops.
Israel has continued to carry out periodic strikes on Lebanese territory since the agreement took effect.
Israel had been due to withdraw from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but has kept troops at five locations it deems "strategic".
The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
