5 killed in drone strikes in south Lebanon as Israel's violations continue

Three civilians were killed in an Israeli drone strike that targeted the southern town of Bint Jbeil on Wednesday evening, media reports said.

Machinegun fire also targeted the town.

Earlier in the day, an Israeli drone targeted a van on a road between the southern towns of Beit Leef and Sribbine, killing Lebanese citizen Hamza Morshed Baddah, the National News Agency said.

Earlier, one person was killed and another wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a house between the southern towns of Ainata and Bint Jbeil, NNA reported.

Israeli forces also blew up a home in Naqoura as Israeli drones raided the Wadi Hassan area between Majdal Zoun and Shihin, amid artillery shelling and machinegun fire at Majdal Zoun’s outskirts.

Separately, a 15-member Israeli force raided an inhabited home owned by the al-Jouki family in the southern town of Burj al-Moulouk, NNA said.

“They searched the house thoroughly and interrogated two people who were in it, confiscating their cellphones,” the agency added.

“The enemy force asked them to immediately evacuate the house and not to return to it until further notice,” NNA said.

Israel stepped up its campaign in Lebanon in late September after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges launched by Hezbollah in support of Hamas following its Palestinian ally'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.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army will deploy in the south alongside UN peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdraws over a period of 60 days.

Hezbollah is required to withdraw its forces north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in the south.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported that UN peacekeepers entered the town of Khiam on Wednesday to "inspect the road and verify the Israeli enemy army's withdrawal".

It added that the peacekeepers found the body of a man "in the vicinity of his house" in the border town.

Also Wednesday, the NNA said ambassadors from the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt met with parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri, who has scheduled a parliament session next month for lawmakers to elect a president.

Crisis-hit Lebanon has been without a president for more than two years amid deadlock between Hezbollah and its allies and their adversaries.

On Monday, representatives of the United States, France, UNIFIL and the Israeli and Lebanese militaries met in the border town of Naqura "to coordinate their support for the cessation of hostilities", a joint statement said.

"UNIFIL hosted the meeting, with the United States serving as chair, assisted by France, and joined by" the two armies, the statement said.

"This mechanism will meet regularly and coordinate closely to advance implementation of the ceasefire agreement" and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, it added.

The resolution, which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, stated that only Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should carry weapons in the south and demanded that Israeli troops withdraw from Lebanese territory.