New Israeli strikes kill two in south Lebanon

Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed Sunday in an Israeli strike in the country's south, the latest such raid despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

An "Israeli enemy strike on a vehicle in Kawthariyat al-Siyyad," located inland between the southern cities of Sidon and Tyre, killed "one person and wounded two people," the health ministry said in a statement.

It later said a separate Israeli strike "on a house in Houla," near the border, killed one person.

The Israeli army said in a statement that it killed Hussein Ali Nasr, whom it described as the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400. Israel said Nasr helped smuggle weapons and funds into Lebanon via “Iranian operatives,” including through Beirut airport.

Israel has continued to conduct regular strikes in Lebanon despite a November 27 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

On Friday, Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli air strikes killed two people in the south, with Israel announcing attacks in the same areas targeting Hezbollah militants.

Under the truce, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Israel was to withdraw all its forces from south Lebanon, although it continues to hold five positions that it deems "strategic".

Lebanon's army has been deploying in the south near the border as Israeli forces have withdrawn.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Friday that the group "will not let anyone disarm" it, as Washington presses Beirut to compel the Iran-backed movement to hand over its weapons.