An Israeli drone strike on Sunday killed five people, including three children, in Bint Jbeil, a town in southern Lebanon, the country’s health ministry reported.
Two others were injured when a motorbike and a vehicle were targeted in the attack, according to Lebanon’s state news agency.
The strike took place despite a US-brokered truce between Lebanon and Israel, which has been in effect since November following over a year of conflict linked to the Gaza war. Israel has continued to carry out strikes on what it says are Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the victims included a father and his three children, while the mother was wounded. He added the family held US citizenship.
A US State Department spokesperson later stated that, while the situation remains uncertain, indications so far suggest the individuals killed were not US citizens, noting one had a previously unused immigrant visa petition.
The Israeli military confirmed that the strike killed a Hezbollah member but acknowledged that several uninvolved civilians also lost their lives. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expressed ‘regret’ over civilian casualties and said the incident is under investigation.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attack on social media, calling it a “blatant crime against civilians” and an intimidation tactic against those returning to villages in the south.
Lebanon faces growing pressure from the US, Saudi Arabia, and Hezbollah’s political rivals to disarm the Iranian-backed group. Hezbollah has warned that disarmament talks would be a grave mistake as long as Israel continues its airstrikes and occupation in southern Lebanon.
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