4 killed as Israeli airstrikes hit Lebanon; UN peacekeepers also targeted

At least four people were killed and two others injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon on Sunday, in one of the deadliest escalations since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect in November 2024.

According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, Israeli drones and warplanes struck multiple targets, including vehicles, in the towns of Zawtar, Qlaileh, Naqoura, and Nabi Sheet. Security sources told Xinhua that three of those killed were members of Hezbollah, while the fourth was a Syrian national.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out two rounds of strikes, saying they eliminated a Hezbollah official and a suspected weapons trafficker operating for the group.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee later said that forces had killed a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in Qlaileh, as part of what officials described as an effort to dismantle the group’s military infrastructure in the south.

Lebanese authorities reported that at least ten people have been killed in Israeli attacks over the past week. Israeli media, meanwhile, claimed that a number of senior Hezbollah commanders were among those targeted in recent precision strikes.

The reported casualties included Zain al-Abidin Hussein Fatouni, a commander in the Radwan Force’s anti-tank unit; Mohammad Akram Arabia, a senior Radwan officer; Abd Mahmoud al-Sayyed, a local representative of Hezbollah; and Ali Hussein al-Moussawi, described by Israel as a weapons smuggler operating between Syria and Lebanon.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz on Sunday toured the Israel–Lebanon border along with US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, underscoring ongoing coordination between the two allies.

Despite the ceasefire agreement signed on 27 November 2024, Israel continues to conduct near-daily strikes on Lebanese territory, saying the operations are aimed at neutralising Hezbollah threats along the border. Lebanese officials and several international organisations have condemned the strikes as violations of the truce and of Lebanon’s sovereignty.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, at least 103 civilians have been killed since the truce came into force, many of them in residential areas or near UN peacekeeping sites. Lebanon’s Health Ministry places the overall death toll at more than 285, with 630 wounded.

In a related incident on Sunday evening, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that one of its patrols came under Israeli fire near the village of Kafr Kila.

UNIFIL said an Israeli drone dropped a bomb close to the peacekeepers’ position before an Israeli tank fired towards them. No injuries or damage were reported.

The peacekeeping mission condemned the incident as a “violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s sovereignty,” warning that such actions endangered personnel implementing the UN mandate in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military did not issue an immediate response. UNIFIL positions have been targeted on several occasions since cross-border clashes flared following the Gaza conflict in October 2023.

Under the terms of the November 2024 ceasefire, Israel was required to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon by January 2025. However, its troops remain deployed at several strategic outposts along the border, with Israeli officials citing ongoing security concerns.

With IANS inputs