Hezbollah member killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon

Beirut, May 16 (IANS) Israeli drones carried out multiple airstrikes across southern Lebanon, killing a Hezbollah member and destroying several prefabricated structures, Lebanese security and official sources said.

Lebanon's Ministry of Health said on Thursday in a statement that an Israeli drone strike targeting a vehicle on the Arnoun-Yohmor road killed one person, Xinhua news agency reported.

A Lebanese security source identified the victim as Mohammad Ali Marouni, a Hezbollah member from the town of Arnoun in the Nabatieh district, deep in southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanese official sources, three Hezbollah members have been killed and a fourth wounded in separate Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon over the past 48 hours.

In a related incident, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli Apache helicopter carried out three consecutive strikes within half an hour on the village of Houla in southeastern Lebanon, targeting a prefabricated structure belonging to the Wataawano Association.

The agency added that at dawn, the Israeli army struck another prefabricated building in the village of Adaisseh.

Separately, a drone dropped a stun grenade on a house in Kfar Kila, while another drone dropped a similar device over the ruins of al-Dhahira School in the western sector of southern Lebanon.

The cross-border strikes come despite a ceasefire agreement reached on November 27, 2024, intended to halt more than a year of hostilities tied to the war in Gaza.

An Israeli drone strike killed a Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, targetting a vehicle near Qaaqaait al-Jisr in the Wadi al-Hujayr area, Lebanese security and official sources said.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Wednesday that "an enemy drone targeted a car at the entrance of Wadi al-Hujayr near Qaaqaait al-Jisr in the Nabatieh district this morning".

The Lebanese Ministry of Health's Public Health Emergency Operations Center confirmed one fatality in the strike.

Civil Defence officials said the vehicle caught fire, and the body was transported to a hospital in Nabatieh.

The truce, mediated by the US and France, has largely held, though sporadic flare-ups have continued.

Israel has said its strikes are intended to neutralise Hezbollah threats.

However, the Lebanese government and several Arab states have accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement.

Despite the truce's provision requiring a full Israeli withdrawal, Israeli forces continue to hold several strategically important positions in southern Lebanon.

--IANS

int/khz