Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed two people and wounded 11 on Friday, Lebanon’s health ministry said, in the latest attacks despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The ministry said that an “Israeli air strike on a vehicle” outside a public hospital in Tibnin killed one person and wounded 11, while another strike on a vehicle in Ansar killed one person.
The Israeli army said it killed Ammar Hayel Qutaybani, alleging he was a Hezbollah commander, in southern Lebanon, without specifying the exact location.
It added that it killed a member of the group’s elite Radwan force in Tibnin, and struck “a vessel that was used by Hezbollah to gather intelligence” on Israeli troops in the southern town of Naqura.
The attacks come a day after Israel bombed five towns it told residents to evacuate.
The Israeli military said it struck several weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force on Thursday.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the attacks and “the silence of the countries who had sponsored” the ceasefire, which he said “encourages further aggression”.
“The time has come to put an immediate end to these blatant violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” he said.
United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon said the attacks “put the fragile stability that has been built since November of last year at risk” and called on Israel to “refrain from any further strikes and to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory”.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s army said Thursday’s strikes brought Israel’s ceasefire “violations” to 4,500, adding that they hinder efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Under US pressure, Beirut has ordered the Lebanese army to draw up a plan to disarm the Iran-backed group in areas near the Israeli border by the end of the year.
Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said last week that Lebanon’s army would fully disarm Hezbollah near the border within three months.
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© Agence France-Presse
