Reuters

An Israeli drone strike on Sunday killed five people, including three children, in Bint Jbeil, a town in southern Lebanon, the country&rsquo;s health ministry reported.&nbsp;Two others were injured when a motorbike and a vehicle were targeted in the attack, according to Lebanon&rsquo;s state news agency.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;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 &lsquo;regret&rsquo; over civilian casualties and said the incident is under investigation.&nbsp;Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attack on social media, calling it a &ldquo;blatant crime against civilians&rdquo; and an intimidation tactic against those returning to villages in the south.&nbsp;Lebanon faces growing pressure from the US, Saudi Arabia, and Hezbollah&rsquo;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.

A man inspects a damaged site in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Ansariyeh, south of Sidon, Lebanon. (Reuters)

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The victims included a father and his three children, while the mother was wounded. 

5 killed in Israeli drone attack on southern Lebanese town 

BEIRUT: Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that the group considered Friday&rsquo;s cabinet session on an army plan to establish a state monopoly on arms &ldquo;an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown&rdquo;. Lebanon&rsquo;s cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah. It said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities. But it said continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon would hamper the army&rsquo;s progress. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally approved the plan. Qmati told Reuters that Hezbollah had reached its assessment based on the government&rsquo;s declaration on Friday that further implementation of a U.S. roadmap on the matter was dependent on Israel&rsquo;s commitment. He said that without Israel halting strikes and withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon, Lebanon&rsquo;s implementation of the plan should remain &ldquo;suspended until further notice.&rdquo; Lebanon&rsquo;s cabinet last month tasked the army with coming up with a plan that would establish a state monopoly on arms and approved a U.S. roadmap aimed at disarming Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon. Qmati said that Hezbollah &ldquo;unequivocally rejected&rdquo; those two decisions and expected the Lebanese government to draw up a national defense strategy. Israel last week signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the army took action to disarm Hezbollah. Meanwhile, it has continued its strikes, killing four people on Wednesday.

Hezbollah views army’s disarmament plan cautiously, linking progress to Israeli ceasefire and troop withdrawal conditions

Articles tagged with "Hezbollah"

5 killed in Israeli drone attack on southern Lebanese town

Hezbollah calls Lebanon army plan opportunity, urges Israeli ceasefire commitment